Echoed Songs
by Rift-Raft
Summary: The war is over, the nightmare faded. Yet moving on is not so simple when the monstrosities of the past bleed into the present. With war descending anew in the wake of a mysterious, unseen threat, the peace Hiccup and Toothless so desperately seek spirals further and further out of reach. SEQUEL TO I HEAR HIM SCREAM.
1. Chapter 1

**Echoed Songs**

 **A Sequel to** _ **I Hear Him Scream**_

 **Chapter 1**

Toothless

The peace was the strangest part of it all.

It was a soothing, enveloping thing; a warming fire that heals in the most frigid depths of winter. In its unexpected embrace, the very world seemed to be more full of life. The air was crisp and clean, no longer smoggy and choking with the smoke of war-fire. Every creature, from lowly sheep to proud dragon, seemed to move with more of a bounce in their step. Nature itself seemed to have blossomed, pouring into the earth vibrant colors and rich smells, the spring song of birds and insects seemingly ever-present.

Yet it was also a looming threat, a feeling of being watched by something lurking in the darkness. A sinking stone seemed to have plunged into the stomachs of every creature that had taken note of this change. It was almost as if every breath needed to be held in anticipation, waiting for tensions to finally snap. It was a piece of driftwood flung among a crashing ocean, seconds from being overtaken and swept away, leaving no trace behind. It _had_ to be temporary. It simply _couldn't_ hold.

Because dragons and humans, after hundreds of years, had found a way to coexist.

It was still impossible to believe. The world had radically shifted underfoot, forcing even the sturdiest to trip over themselves. It had happened fast—so, _so_ fast—and yet, unlike most sudden changes, this was not necessarily something to be resented. The north, once a blazing inferno of war and fear and agony, almost seemed calm.

It had been a little over a full turning of the moon since the fall of the Queen and Hiccup's reversion back into a human.

I had no idea what to make of this new world.

 **o.O.o**

Of all the problems that Hiccup and I had faced since being permanently grounded, a loss of stealth was not one of them.

"Not that I don't love elaborate games of hide-and-seek, Toothless, but…I think we've actually got to deal with this one."

I shot a look over my shoulder at Hiccup, who was lying on my back and staring up at the stars. "But we _just_ got here," I complained, even though that wasn't exactly true. For some time, we had been resting on one of the tallest tree-caves in the nest, nestled just below a huge metal thing that Hiccup called a "bell".

Hiccup twisted around and sat up so that he could grasp onto my neck. His eyes flicked up to the moon to check the time. "I've been trying to think of a way around this—but I don't think we're gonna win this one. Not like this." He looked down, face cast in shadow. "I mean, not that we would _ever_ win anything like this."

I hummed in reluctant agreement and looked out over our nest. The moonlight painted everything in a dark blue, making the island almost appear to be ocean waves. Dragons were settling down, huddled together for warmth on just about any elevated surface they could. Small orange specks dotting the landscape were the only indications that humans were present. Even for Vikings, it was far too cold to stay outside without there being a dire need.

"Can't we stay here until morning?" I whined. I was quite content here, where it was nice and calm and humans weren't around to force us into ridiculous situations that had no benefit at all.

Hiccup leaned over and batted at my nose. "Come on, Toothless," he said. "Let's just get this over with."

With a sigh, I gathered my legs underneath me and stood up. Taking a quick moment to look below, I crouched, waited for Hiccup to brace himself, and then launched us towards the earth. There were a few seconds of glorious freefall—then I opened my wings right before we landed to soften the impact. I hit the ground light on my paws and slid into a light jog. Hiccup shifted his weight accordingly, holding tight onto my neck with his legs and front paws.

The moon was high enough above that we were forced to stay low, ducking from shadow to shadow. The tree-caves seemed to close in, giant towers leering down at us. Hiccup made himself small on my back as I darted through the maze of the Viking nest, wary of firelight that signaled humans nearby. Dragons roosting among the tree-caves peered down at us with a curiosity and amusement, but did their best not to draw attention to us.

Hiccup gave a small hiss and shifted his weight to the side. I swung my tail and scampered in the direction he'd leaned towards, pinning my ears to listen to who he had seen.

"…not really sure, sorry. Maybe try where the dragons are flocking? Or maybe…"

We swerved between several more tree-caves, keeping close to their edges so as not to be in the open. As we went I passed by an inconsistency—a small tunnel between two of them. I halted, drawing a surprised yelp from Hiccup, and backed up to look into it. At its outlet were trees; it was the forest that bordered the Viking nest named "Berk".

Perfect! We could finally get out of this gods-forsaken nest! More than happy to escape into some sort of refuge, I snapped forward—

—and immediately felt the wood-caves clamp down on my wings and shoulders, forcing me to a sudden and painful stop.

Hiccup fell forward and sprawled head over tail across the ground. Rolling on his back, he groaned, " _Toothless!_ "

"Sorry," I grunted. I tried to brace my front paws, but I could barely move. My shoulders and wings remained lodged between the tree-nests.

Hiccup sat up, setting all four of his paws against the ground. He hesitated and then rose to his hind legs, still just a little wobbly with his metal leg. As he stood, he held his arms out like they were wings, almost moving about as a crippled Two-Walker does. He blinked at me for a second, and then a grin split across his face as realization set in.

I shot him a look. "Don't even—" I tried again to yank myself out of the wedge, failing just as much as before. "—start with—" Pushing my weight into my hind legs, I strained backwards as hard as I could, tail thrashing. "— _that!_ "

Hiccup collapsed with laughter. I moaned and dropped my head.

"So much for stealth," Hiccup teased, hobbling forward in an unsteady gait and grabbing my neck in his little paws. He squared his feet and pulled _into_ the tunnel as hard as he could, which wasn't much. I stopped and then pushed forward myself, digging my claws into the soil.

Besides some useless scrabbling, nothing changed.

Hiccup let up and managed to hold back another laugh. "I guess you live here now," he snickered, placing his paws on his hips.

"Oh, wonderful," I said, rolling my eyes. "Will you at least bring me some sauce to brighten my day?"

A little bit of the light in his eyes dimmed, accentuating the bruise-like bags underneath his eyes. "Hm," Hiccup said, forcing his smile now. Too quick for me to do anything, he stepped around my head and scrabbled across my back. "Let's try this instead. You know," he grunted as he began pushing at my rump, "I really _could_ say something about how you earned this from pinning me with your fat butt all the time."

"Oh, like all those times _weren't_ your fault!" I said, gouging clawmarks into the dirt. I couldn't help but cast a furtive glance above us. If our nestmates saw us like this...their _Kings_ , defeated by a small passage! I drooped with embarrassment at the thought.

"Mhm." Hiccup groaned as he did his best—even though it didn't do much, the gods bless him. "You know, I could probably get someone to help us…"

" _No!_ " I gasped, redoubling my efforts. It didn't work—my front legs were too constricted to be of any use, and my shoulders and wings were jammed in fairly well.

"Well okay then, Mr. Hard Way," Hiccup drawled. "Maybe I could get some oil somewhere, or maybe we can try and get your wings dislodged, or I'll bet that _oh hi Dad!_ "

I jolted upright, ears raised. Hiccup at first clamped his paws down like he was going to climb up onto my back. Then his grip loosened and he moved his paws away, effectively disappearing and leaving me alone. My chest tightened and my heart began to hammer.

I grew very still.

"Hiccup," the King sighed, far closer than I'd ever expected.

There was a long, horrible silence. Hiccup leaned into me.

"Um, hey Dad, uh, nothing like a nice midnight stroll, right?"

The King lost his patience. "Hiccup, you can't keep doing this!" He snapped. "Both of you, disappearing the _moment_ —"

He suddenly stopped, taking in a deep breath.

I felt his eyes searing into my back. Hiccup leaned further into me.

"Is he stuck?"

"U-uh…yeah."

Two paws wrapped around my midsection. My heart leapt into my throat. I gasped and tried to wrench away, tail swinging.

With a heave, the King all but flung me backwards, ripping me free.

I stumbled and shook myself, hissing at the soreness left behind in my shoulders. Hiccup rushed to my side, eyes wide as he worried over my wings with gentle pokes and prods. I leaned forward with a comforting purr, pressing my cheek against his.

A noise off to my right—and I whipped around towards the King. The moon was behind him, casting him in shadow. Behind him, dragons were poking their heads over wood-caves, eyes narrowed and wings half-opened. The King met my eyes, and I made sure to keep my head high and my gaze steady.

 _I_ was a King, too. _We_ were Kings, and we could walk wherever or whenever we pleased in _our_ territory.

…even if the circumstances were, admittedly, _not_ for leisurely "midnight strolls". As cowardly and immature as it was, we had spent all day and night playing an endless game of "extreme hide-and-seek" with the King.

The King started to speak, only to stop himself. He looked conflicted and guilty, like he was only here because he knew he had to even though he felt wholly unwelcome. I _truly_ wanted to be proud that we made him just as uncomfortable as he made us.

Instead, it just made me feel disappointed and sullen, like digging up something that smelled nice only for it to be inedible. It was _so_ aggravating. But everything wasn't black and white, no matter how hard I wanted it to be.

"…we're fairly close to home," the King finally said. "Let's speak on the way there."

Hiccup and I exchanged a glance. Hiccup was cringing in the way fledglings did when they knew they'd been caught troublemaking, but there was also something else in his eyes. Not quite fear, but that intimidated look he'd used to give me what felt like eons ago, when we were trapped in the cove and I had been spending the better part of my time being a complete asshole towards him.

"We could still run," I whispered to him, but did not gesture under the King's keen eye.

Hiccup didn't respond. He _couldn't_ respond.

The King gently patted Hiccup on the shoulder to get him to move. Hiccup flinched away from his paw and closer to me, and the King turned his head to hide a grimace.

As we began to walk, a pit opened in my heart, and I leaned heavily into Hiccup's shoulder. I tried to look calm and collected.

"Don't worry," Hiccup murmured when we were halfway there, "I'm sure it won't be _that_ bad."

It had been enough for us to avoid the King since sunrise…although I appreciated the optimism.

Yet that wasn't what had me on edge. I forced a smile for Hiccup, finding it difficult not to urge him onto my back just so I knew he was _safe._

The King was the least of my worries.

 **o.O.o**

Hiccup

"Well would ya look who it is! And here I was thinkin' ya pulled one of yer famous vanishin' acts again!"

Toothless huffed in that really loud, exaggerated way that meant _I told you so_.

Dad kept a firm grip around my arm, dragging me right along into the forge. "No, he will _not_ be doing that today. Make sure he actually stays put this time, Gobber."

I shuddered at the scent of metal and coal and not-so-subtly tried to pry his fingers off of me. Toothless gave a soft hiss behind us.

My longtime mentor set down the axe he'd been sharpening, flipped up the flimsy eye guard he used when he actually decided to follow basic safety protocol, and sauntered forward with a grin. "You say that like I'm bad at it," he said. "What's the worst that could happen? He runs off and gets turned into a dragon again?"

I grimaced and sneaked a peek up at Dad. He looked just about as unamused by the joke as I expected him to be...not that Gobber cared at all about inappropriate jokes. The firelight glinting off of his eyes only served to make his trademark "disappointed scowl" all the more disappointed-y and scowl-like.

"Welp, I guess I should, uh, get to work?" I interjected before Gobber could open his mouth and make the already-bad situation worse. "Thanks for the... _escort_ , Dad."

Dad _finally_ let go of my arm and faced me. His eyes softened, and he took on that gentle tone of voice that I still hadn't gotten used to. "Just _try_ , Hiccup. I know you've been having trouble with…this," he gestured at all of me, "but it's time that we try to get some sense of normalcy back. Nothing will get better if we don't."

" _And_ I've been up to my hook in overdue work!" Gobber said. Suddenly his arm snapped out and grabbed me, pulling me towards the interior.

Panic shot through my body. I yelped, ripping away, my fingers bending like claws. Toothless growled.

Gobber paused for just a second, his cool demeanor breaking.

He let go and went on anyways, "We've got some serious catchin' up to do, so don't you worry about anythin', Stoick. I'm yer top man!"

Dad's eyes lingered on mine for a few more seconds before he nodded. "Right—I'll be off then. I'll see you tonight, Hiccup. Work hard."

I just wanted to leave, to stop this constant game of "pretend everything is fine" even as everything got more and more _not_ fine.

"You know it," I sighed instead, looking away and reaching out to Toothless. He put his nose to my hand and stood shoulder-to-shoulder with me, casting furtive glances around the soot-filled smithy. I tried to scent the air, only to frown when I remembered that it didn't do me as much good as it used to.

Dad gave a terse nod. He turned and walked away, off to do his Chiefly duties. He'd been speaking about a fishing expedition earlier, so I knew he'd be heading down to the docks. Watching him go was so strange; I was both relieved and disappointed. Although I guess that could sum up how I felt about my entire life.

"Alright, right to it!" Gobber said, snapping me back to the present. He threw me a pair of "safety goggles" that consisted of some metal with slits in it and a leather strap. I tried to grab it the _wrong_ way by leaning forward, opening my mouth, and pawing at it. The result was me batting it away.

Toothless lunged for it, grabbed it in his teeth, and then handed it to me. I grasped at it with clumsy hands, staring down at my fingers.

The entire incident went right over Gobber's head, who had produced a comically-long scroll and was currently rattling off _all_ the work that needed to be done. Catapults needed realigning, swords needed sharpening, metal needed treating, axes needed rebalancing, arrowheads needed refining, lunch needed making, helmets needed shining, kitchen cookware needed molding. On top of _all_ of that, nails and bolts needed forging and the carpenters needed help as well. Our nestmates had been accidentally breaking things all over the place, so much so that even Gobber had to help out.

Toothless made a surprised noise, nudging me and grinning in amusement. I couldn't tell if he was making fun of me for all the work I had to do while he got to sit back and watch, or if he was impressed that I could do—or _used_ to be able to do—all the things on the list. His presence put me at ease, and I risked a small, quiet purr and pressed my cheek against his—a gesture he readily returned.

"What are ya doin'?" Gobber exclaimed, stopping short on his list. "If ya have time ta cuddle, ya have time to work!" He strode over, grabbed the "eye safety gear" from my hands, and shoved it onto my face.

The world was cast in shadow.

"Sharpen. Now."

"What—"

Something heavy and metal was dropped in my arms, so unexpected that I nearly toppled forward. The eye gear barely let any light through, but I still saw it—I still saw the dull light glinting off of it, I still felt its cold sharpness.

I bared my teeth and hissed, tearing away from the sword and ripping the gear off. Chills raced down my spine, and I backpedaled until my back hit a wall. The sword and gear clattered to the floor.

Toothless snarled and smacked them away. He made the high-pitched croon he used when he was concerned, sniffing me up and down to check for injuries.

"I'm alright," I whispered to him, shaking as fear and revulsion lunged from the darkness and clamped tight on my heart.

Immediately regret set in. I forced myself to take a few calming breaths. I waited until my the ache of my rushing heart dimmed, and stuttered to a surprised Gobber, "Sorry, it's not…"

Gobber frowned down at me, worry creases lining his face. After a moment, he pulled a grin and pushed me towards the forge. "Eh, don't worry about it—you do enough of that to give _me_ an ulcer," he said. His voice became serious, but warm. "I'm just glad to have ya back, Hiccup. We all are."

The panic faded at the familiarity of speaking with him, even as part of me hissed that nothing was like it used to be. I ducked my head with a small smile. "Thanks, Gobber. I really appreciate that."

"Ya better be, because ya won't be feelin' so sentimental when I get ya to work!" He said, slapping down a huge list of work orders before me. "Now get to it!"

 **o.O.o**

I learned very quickly that "getting to it" was _really_ hard when I could barely even manage to catch things anymore.

It had only been a few weeks since…everything happened. Even now, my biggest problem in Berk—besides the people—was adjustingto my new…old?...body.

Working as the blacksmith's apprentice required a _lot_ of fine motor skill—all of which I had lost.

I was only now redeveloping the dexterity to draw and write, having just graduated from "chicken scratch" to "toddler scribbles". I constantly forgot the wider range of movement my arms and legs had. I still had problems walking in a straight line without the balance I once had from my tail. I occasionally found myself swiveling my head back and forth to make up for the loss of bigger ears.

Writing notes and schematics down for Gobber was difficult and time-consuming, but he didn't breathe down my neck as much as he normally would have. Jobs that involved detailed handiwork were completely out of the question. Sewing, using small tools, and adjustments were too difficult with my clumsy hands. For most orders, I was stuck handing Gobber things or holding tools for him.

It was so frustrating and disheartening, that yet _another_ thing that had once been part of _me_ was now gone. Part of me was devastated that my hands were almost as useless to me now as I had once been to the village. They were what made me unique, that gave me a sense of identity, in a Berk that had ridiculed my every step. I had once been able to draw, to build, to invent. Now I couldn't even hold a needle.

Yet working in the smithy seemed almost unnatural—like it was a foreign place to me now. I hadn't needed to use hands for over a year because I didn't _have_ them. Now _that_ part of me was the one I relied the most on. _That_ part of me screamed that there was something horribly wrong and alien with my new paws in the same way that I used to reject my tail and wings.

I was being tugged two ways, by two parts of me long-since lost to the past. It set me ill at ease, leaving a hole in my chest that sucked away at me.

By midday I was exhausted, physically andmentally. I'd been lifting and carrying things back and forth since the sun had risen and my hands were sore after their sudden, strenuous use. I felt like I'd flown for miles and just needed some rest. Toothless was even worse, pawing at his head and clenching his eyes shut. The sounds of the forge were already unbearably loud for _me;_ I hated to think about how much pain they caused him, no matter how well he pretended that they didn't bother him.

"Now I won't say anythin' if you don't," Gobber was saying as I handed him supplies for a clasp on a basket, "but if ya need a little break, then feel free ta."

"Wait, _you're_ letting me have a _break?_ " I exclaimed. I dropped the metal pieces, and the high ringing made Toothless flinch away with pinned ears. I took a second to make sure he was okay, and then I asked, "And what brought this momentous act of generosity on?"

Gobber gave me an unimpressed look. "Ya look like yer gonna pass out."

That was completely…actually, it wasn't too far from the mark. I _did_ feel a little lightheaded, but that was likely from the heat from the forge and the stress of the working all day. It was just as hot and crowded and dark and noisy as the nest, which I'd never grown accustomed to and…

I stammered an excuse even _I_ knew made no sense at Gobber, and he lifted an eyebrow and crossed his arms. "Mhm. I would rather _not_ have yer father go madder than a Terror at me for lettin' ya get hurt. Be back in three minutes."

…alright, so maybe not as generous as I thought.

Toothless was practically whining at this point, yanking on my shirt so hard that I thought it would rip. I started and looked down at him, ducking my head guiltily. I couldn't force him to be in here any longer.

With a nod at Gobber, we hurried outside. I sat down just outside the door as Toothless curled up around me, careful to keep his tail out of the busy street. Our nestmates lounging on the rooftops gave happy greeting calls. On the other hand, many Vikings jumped away from us in alarm, forming a bubble of empty space around us.

The moment I sat down, exhaustion overcame me. I slumped against Toothless and closed my eyes, pretending not to feel the stares of all of the passersby.

" _Hiccup?_ " Toothless asked, one of the very few words I could recognize. He made his concerned noise and poked at me.

"Power nap," I mumbled. The sound of the hustle and bustle of Berk swelled up around me. A huge pressure pinned my arms and legs, pushing me further and further away. Curling closer to Toothless, I allowed my tense muscles to relax.

Even through the foggy haze of my thoughts, I noted with surprise just how wound up I had been in there. With Gobber yammering on and on, it had almost felt…normal. Even though it couldn't be further from that, not even with all of Dad's efforts into making it _seem_ like it.

For what felt like many, many hours, I drifted in and out of unconsciousness as people chattered and dragons chirped and squawked at each other.

All it took was Toothless growling to draw me out of it.

I snapped upright, whipping my head around to try and find the threat. My eyes settled on a man standing before us, hand on the hilt of his sword and eyes blazing. He was huge and looming tall above us, leering down his nose at me. He stepped forward with clear, malicious intent.

My heart began to race. Toothless raised his wings and hissed a warning, one repeated by our observing nestmates above.

"What are _you_ doing near our weapons?" The man spat. He drew even closer, almost within striking distance.

"I—" I began, my mouth dry.

He drew his sword.

Berk warped around me.

The storage shed clamped down, locking me in darkness as my stomach crumpled from hunger, the fishing net tangled in my claws, and Dad charged me with a sword of his own.

No—he couldn't—not again—!

I bolted to my feet, scurrying away from my father as my heart burst out of my chest. Toothless cried out to me, but he was so far away. Dad was begging me to prove that I was still me. People were shouting. Weapons were drawn. Dragons were snarling and scrabbling around. Dad was screaming at me that he would kill me if he ever saw me again.

The crowd moved away. The shed closed in. My heart burned. Dragons descended.

 _It's not real_ , I told myself again. _It's not real, it's not real, it's not real!_

I felt myself lifted up. My body shifted on its own will, holding on as tight as possible as wind raced past me. I couldn't breathe—I was choking! I tried to suck in air that was too thin, like I'd flown up too high and was close to fainting. My stomach roiled and my limbs rattled as everything spun and spun out of control.

 _It's not real!_

But I couldn't _breathe!_

Something else was controlling me, wrenching me around like a ragdoll. It buried my face into Toothless' neck, digging my claws into his ears and side-frills. My heart thrashed about in my chest, shooting pain through me with each and every frantic beat. It was as if it was sending poison through my veins, ripping me up from the inside, tearing me apart!

I cowered and listened helplessly as a search party set out after me. I heard my father, directing them like he would a hunt for game, trying to sound in-control but voice tight with loss.

 _It's not real, it's not real, it's not—_

" _HICCUP!_ "

I flinched away, curling into a ball and covering my ears as they rang. My arms were pushed away from my head. A second later something huge and slimy and wet was drawn across my face.

Disgust hit me first—and then awareness. My chest was stinging with every shallow, frantic breath. I was trembling all over. The grass I was lying on was soft, but still prickling me wherever skin was exposed. The sun above was blocked by a dappling of pine leaves, casting green light below.

I was also soaked with dragon saliva.

Wheezing, I looked up and blinked at Toothless hovering over me. The only sounds were our rapid breathing and the birds chirping above.

It took me a second to take him in. His wide eyes, pupils thin lines with terror. The way his ears and side-frills were pinned, his spine arched, his legs rattling, his wings opened as if he could take off right where he stood and carry me to a medicine dragon.

He made a high-pitched sound, a shrill squeal that cut off short. My breath hitched. I had never, _never_ , heard him make that noise before.

It just screamed with every ounce of horror and helplessness he felt: _Please tell me what's wrong!_

"M'sorry," I croaked, blinking rapidly as I tried to keep him—me—in the present.

Toothless drooped in relief. He lied down, curled his tail around, and covered me with a wing, blocking out the sun and the noise of…wherever we were. Just to be sure, he ran his tongue over my hair again and settled his head down besides mine, rumbling with a comforting purr. He clutched me close and murmured to me, still shaking, still unable to keep the fear from his voice.

I grabbed his broken tail, holding it to my chest as the panicked thuds of my heart calmed.

For a long time, nothing was said.

Then, in a quiet, meek voice:

"Thank you, Toothless."


	2. Chapter 2

**Hello, everyone!**

 **I want to take the time to thank every single person who favorited and followed last chapter. I'd especially like to thank Crysist, AngelOfGrace96, The Sentinel of Knowledge, Varghul, Firesgone, OseanSoldier, LevelNone, Psycho Kid, TiGGs96, FoxGlade, Brenne, Cyeithen, gaylord420, Max100, Lightwavers, MusingWordsmith, Zeeklyn, Ashora, Blocksmasher2, vampireharry 2, quaddles, DevoutRelic, LlamaQueen666, 99thProblem, Every1's Beta, NomexGlobe, Anonymous N00b the 2nd, TheFuriousNightFury, Aquawyrm, TheLastDino, and anonymous guests for all of your wonderful reviews! Seriously you guys, you're all the greatest! I appreciate all of your support so much!**

 **I know most of you won't be too pent up that this is updating a week early, but don't expect this to be the norm. Normally I** _ **will**_ **update bi-weekly, but right now my schedule is forcing me to update early. Works out great for you guys, though!**

 **I'd also like to thank my betas Crysist and GoldenGriffiness for all of your awesome work betaing and going over this with me!**

 **Lastly, if you haven't seen the animatic that I made for IHHS and Echoed Songs, please feel free to check out my profile to get the link to it! The video is titled "Screams and Songs".**

 **Phew, that was a long author's note. Without further ado, enjoy!**

* * *

Astrid

The Deadly Nadder crept closer, eyes narrowed and head lowered. A soft hiss came between bared teeth, poison-barbed tail lashing. With every small step closer the sound of claws scraping across the ground became more and more pronounced.

I froze, shooting a wide-eyed look at our surroundings. We were in the middle of the road, having been walking back to my house from the docks. Villagers were milling about on their daily routines. I couldn't see anything even remotely threatening, and the dragons lounging around didn't seem alarmed at all. What was wrong?

It took me a second to see the glint in the dragon's eyes. Realization dawned on me.

My mistake was to back away, when I should have stayed still and stared her down.

"Stormfly, _no!_ "

With a scream, Stormfly charged. I stumbled backwards, holding my hands up, but it was pointless. She barreled right into me, knocking me backwards with a heavy impact. Just as I hit the ground, she curled her claws around my chest, pinning me, and snapped at my belt. I pushed her massive head away, knowing that it wouldn't do anything; she was far stronger than I was, especially when she wanted to be.

Stormfly ripped my axe right out of my belt and fluttered a little ways down the street. Surrounding dragons let out growls. I lied there, completely defenseless.

I groaned, putting a hand to my head. "Not _again_."

Stormfly chirped at me, tipping her head and take a few steps closer. I rolled over and sat up, and she scurried away.

"Stormfly, give it back," I said, trying to make my voice commanding. I had to be the "boss dragon" to her if I ever hoped of being able to control or discipline her. I had tried to go to Hiccup about it, but he and Toothless hardly hung around Berk enough for me to really get anything out of him. He'd shrugged in irritation, told me something along the lines of "dragons are people too", and had said that I should simply try to befriend her with mutual respect and go from there.

Still, this kind of disobedience was aggravating at best and very disruptive at worst, and most Vikings did not have a patient streak—myself included. The worst part was that it was way too hard to enforce _anything_ on a giant flying reptile that could breathe fire at you if it got mad.

Or if it wanted to play the hundredth game of keep-away that week.

Stormfly continued to squawk at me, bouncing her head up and down and wiggling her rump like a cat. As hard as I tried, I couldn't hide a smile at the sight. It was still baffling to me that a dragon could be _cute_ , of all things,and even playful _._ Hell, Stormfly was fearlessly playing with my _axe_ , the same weapon that I had used against her countless times in the Ring.

The thought, as always, made me slump my shoulders and look down in shame. Not for the first time, I thought back to the past, to every single _stupid_ mistake I had made that had only made things worse for everybody. Especially Hiccup.

My axe dropped in front of me with a clatter, and I nearly leaped out of my skin in shock. Stormfly trilled and gently nudged my hands with her nose.

"Oh, don't worry, Stormfly," I said, snapping myself out of my funk and giving her a quick scratch below the chin. "It's fine. Here, girl, catch!"

The axe skittered across the ground and came to a stop a short distance away. Stormfly flew up and pounced on it like it was a rabbit, hopping back over to me and wiggling in excitement.

Several dragons lounging in the street watched with interest, heads tilted and eyes focused. The people walking around were a lot more wary, jumping every time Stormfly got close.

We continued on our way, the sky bright and the air crisp. It was actually really relaxing to play a game of catch with Stormfly and not have to worry about anything else. Part of me was screaming to stop messing around and to get ready—that something horrible would happen soon, that I was letting my guard down. I tried to ignore it.

At one point some younger dragons—Nadders about half the size of Stormfly—fluttered down and tried to steal my axe from her. She let out a scream and began chasing them around to the point that they all fluttered to _me_ and hid from her, sitting behind my legs and hissing. A few had to learn the hard way that they couldn't hide underneath someone smaller than them, and that said someone didn't appreciate dragons sticking their heads in-between her legs.

In all the commotion, doors had been slammed into, barrels knocked over, and people flung out of the way. None of the villagers really knew how to handle it, so they just gave each other that nervous 'what should we do?' look that had become more and more common by the day.

But…honestly, I wouldn't mind the constant interruptions and confusion if it meant living a life like this. I still couldn't believe it, but dragons were _fun_. And even dragons like Stormfly that couldn't understand people had proven to be far more empathetic and intelligent than we had ever thought possible.

Stormfly went to hand me back my axe and then jerked away when I tried to grab it. Clucking in that way that I just _knew_ she was taunting me, she held it just above my reach as I jumped for it, her eyes glittering. I raised an eyebrow at her, hands on my hips.

"Do you want me to throw it or not?" I asked. Stormfly feinted giving it to me again, taking easy advantage over how much taller than me she was. "Alright, suit yourself—wait, what's wrong?"

Stormfly had stiffened, spines raised, tail barbs clicking, and eyes wide. She was staring intently down the street, which dropped down a steep hill out of sight.

She turned to me, shoved my axe in my arms, and nosed me in the direction she'd been looking. Before I could do anything, she'd opened her wings and flown off.

"Woah, where are you going?" I shouted, launching into a sprint. The moment I hit the crest of the hill, I skidded to a halt and had to pinwheel my arms to prevent nearly toppling all the way down.

There was a huge crowd right in front of the smithy. While not necessarily uncommon, it was still pretty weird. Every dragon in the vicinity was alert, staring motionlessly down at something in the crowd with raised wings and twitching tails. Several were already leaning forward in the slow preparations of takeoff, and the sight of bared teeth made my heart drop. The dragons were being aggressive, but why? Hiccup had said that…

A glint of sunlight reflecting off metal caught my eye. Just next to it, two figures were huddled up against the smithy.

It was enough to snap me back to reality. With a hammering heart, I launched into a sprint, my mind whirling with hundreds of possibilities: of blood spilling, of flames rekindled, of massacres. I didn't know what was wrong, but I had a fairly good idea of what might happen if someone didn't intervene.

Dragons were snarling. People were shouting and the sharp stinging sound of metal on metal filled the air as swords and daggers were yanked from their holsters. Toothless' roar echoed off the buildings. I reached the crowd, shoving my way through it.

I had a second to see a burly man advancing on Toothless and Hiccup and thrust his sword at the Night Fury. On reckless impulse, I kept up my momentum and leapt right into the middle of it all.

" _Wait!_ " I cried.

I was too late; the man had been mid-swing. Time slowed around me as I saw the sunlight glaring off the metal and I met my reflection's eyes. Even though it was useless, I tried to flinch away, knowing that I had stupidly placed myself in front of a strike and that I would just have to deal with the consequences.

Stormfly threw herself in front of me, used her wing to glance the blow, and whipped her tail around fast enough to send a _SNAP!_ crackling through the air. The villager took the hit right in his midsection and was sent flying several meters away into the crowd. Chaos erupted as everyone raised their weapons and dragons leapt into the street, gathering by Stormfly's side in a growling barricade.

I turned around just in time to see Hiccup, face as pale as death and eyes sightless. He was cringing away and gasping frantic, shallow breaths, his small frame wracked with shudders. Gobber was crouched in front of him, jaw set and eyes hard. Before I could begin to ask him what the hell was going on, he snatched Hiccup off the ground and threw him onto Toothless' back.

"GO!" He commanded.

The Night Fury was gone in seconds, living up to his reputation. Dragons lifted up to follow him, only to suddenly stop and descend once again on some unheard command.

I stood there, panting and shaking from the sudden workout. My brain struggled to catch up.

It took me a second to turn to Stormfly, who was crouched besides me with lifted wings.

"Thanks, girl," I breathed, looping an arm under her head. She stopped snarling at the crowd and squawked, closing her eyes and pressing close. Despite her bravery, she was tense and shivering. I smiled, filled with pride that it had been _my_ dragon that had leapt forward to protect both Hiccup and myself.

"What in the name of Thor are ya _doin'_?" Gobber exploded from behind, stomping forward and red up to his ears. "Do ya want to start a war again? I ought to give ya an express trip to Helheim fer pullin' a stunt like that!"

The man—a battle-hardened warrior named Dogsbreath—scrambled to his feet and dusted himself off. "That _thing_ and his dragon were sittin' around by the forge like it was nothing," he ground out. "If you don't remember, those two used to be _well-known_ for destroying weapons supplies and leavings islands defenseless right before they strike again. And here they were, taking a little nap right under your nose, just waitin' for a chance to get in!"

"Hiccup would neverdo that!" I said, my grip on Stormfly tightening. My dragon narrowed her eyes and bared gnarly teeth, and the surrounding dragons did the same.

The hairs on the end of my neck stood on end as the air erupted with deep, furious growls. It sounded like the world itself was about to be shredded apart by teeth and talons. I finally took a moment to take in what exactly the dragons around us were doing. Monstrous Nightmares, Deadly Nadders, Zipplebacks, Gronckles, even Terrors were all hyperfocused on Dogsbreath and the uncertain crowd behind him.

"Look, you need to put that away," I said, pointing at his sword, "unless you want all of these dragons to murder you for trying to kill their leaders."

Dogsbreath narrowed his amber eyes at me. " _You_ don't have any say in this. I've not forgotten how you and your friends betrayed our village."

I stiffened and glowered, clenching my fists, but refused to take the bait. My brief time as the village screwup had taught me a quick and firm lesson: the moment you engage in that kind of argument is the moment you lose.

"That has nothin' ta do with this!" Gobber said. He closed the gap between himself and Dogsbreath in one long stride and ripped the sword out of the burly warrior's hand. "All the lot of you, put yer weapons away! Ya won't see _me_ rebuildin' all yer houses when they get burnt down!"

The rush of the moment dissipated. Vikings began hesitantly sheathing their weapons as they somehow _just_ realized that they were surrounded by a bunch of seriously-pissed off dragons. This seemed to satisfy the malevolent crowd looming above; the dragons began to turn away and fly off with very few remaining to keep watch. Stormfly loosened out of her battle posture and fluttered her wings, clucking and snapping her jaw.

"You're a fool, Gobber," Dogsbreath seethed, all but shaking with rage and hands on the hilts of the numerous weapons he carried on him. "These dragons are only here because _he's_ here. They would turn on us in a heartbeat if those two gave the command."

Gobber leaned in and met his eyes. In a low, even voice, he said, "Then don't give 'em a reason to."

He paused to let that sink in and then straightened up. "Now all of you, get outta here! I got work to do, and all of ya are keepin' me from it! Unless you _want_ me to stop workin' on our weapons?" He said this with a pointed look at Dogsbreath.

There was a tense moment. With a final, disgusted snort, Dogsbreath yanked his sword out of Gobber's hand, threw it back in its sheath, and stormed away. The source of conflict gone, the crowd easily dispersed just as the dragons above had.

I took a moment for myself, holding Stormfly closer. She lowered her head and rumbled. She wouldn't turn on us—on me. Not at the drop of a hat. She wouldn't.

...but could the same really be said for the other dragons?

 **o.O.o**

Toothless

That was it.

I couldn't do it. I couldn't take this anymore. I was a Shadow-Blender, one of the most capable dragons in the north. Hiccup and I had together taken down the Queen with the aid of the Dragon of the Sun and Dragoness of the Moon Themselves. If any human or dragon could find a solution, then it was me.

Even if that wasn't the case, then I was going to try anyways until it became reality.

"Hiccup?" I asked, shaking the reformed dragon in question. He was curled up against my side and hadn't moved or spoken for quite some time. I lifted my wing to expose him and poked his shaggy fur with my nose. This time when I spoke, I drew the word out and over-exaggerated each syllable, " _Hiccup?_ "

"Hm?" He mumbled, eyelids twitching.

Craning my neck, I peered up through the canopy to gauge how late in the day it was. The forest was still bright and crisp around us, birdsong filling in an otherwise empty space. We had been here for some time, and I just knew that _someone_ was going to come looking for us when it was least needed. I scented the air for humans, but only found traces of the last rainfall and the earthy, rich undertones of the foliage and wildlife.

"You know I hate sleeping in," I laughed uneasily. Hiccup didn't say anything, and I prodded him again. "Come on, Hiccup, I've got an idea." I paused, and trying to speak clearly again, " _Please?_ "

Hiccup cracked his eyelids open. He met my eyes.

I _strained_ for the link to come forward, pushing at my magic so fiercely that my head pounded. Now, more than ever, did I loathe its absence.

It did not come.

Hiccup sat up and leaned against my shoulder while I withheld a sigh. He stretched like a hatchling, throwing his paws out in front of him and arching his back. "What time is it?" He asked, blinking up at the hidden sky. "How long was I…asleep?"

I shrugged. "I didn't bother to keep track. Two hours or so?"

He gave me a long, frustrated look, and said nothing.

I had to fight not to become upset myself. Not at Hiccup— _never_ at Hiccup! Yet here I was, failing my brother even though we were right besides each other, wanting for all the world to give him the precise help he needed.

Hiccup was beyond exceptional at, as he called it, 'getting the gist' of what I said. He could easily distinguish tone and emotion where humans apparently only heard grunts and growls. Additionally, he was much better than the humans at interpreting facial expressions. This did wonders for us, even with the one-sided communication we were forced to endure. Still, charades and yes-and-no questions only got so far.

Instead of speaking, I closed my eyes and nosed him on the forehead. Opening my magic reserves, I tried to observe the nature and structure of what remained of his own magic. It was a spell that I had done before when the both of us were under the Queen's control. Yet my magic reacted as I expected, pushing against Hiccup and unable to "cross over" to his body. There was just the slightest pull from him, an empty shell where there _should_ have been magic, but it was not enough for me to see if his magic could be restored.

I was forced to draw back the spell, or waste my magic fruitlessly searching. Again.

Such a searching spell had already been attempted multiple times. The idea was to find the magic that had once maintained his Shadow-Blender form and strengthen it, guiding it to its full strength and allowing it to consume his body. His old magic had sustained his dragon form without causing him harm, and therefore did not carry the threat that new magic did, as it was only a matter of breathing life into it again.

Yet the elders had told us weeks ago that with only the barest traces of magic within him, it could not be used to change him back—if it existed at all. New magic from an outside source would be required to power a reversion to his Shadow-Blender body.

Such a feat was simply too dangerous. It had been a miracle that Hiccup had not perished after his initial transformation, and with the trauma his body and mind had sustained after facing the Queen, it was too risky. Transformation-magic needed to be extremely precise, and using brute force to transform him again could easily become a death sentence.

Despite everything, I'd rather spend the rest of my life like this than a life without Hiccup in it.

I lifted my head and rested my chin on the top of his, ears and side-frills wilting. "I'm so sorry, Hiccup," I murmured, not for the first time.

Hiccup pushed his head up against mine in a friendly manner, giving a little purr. "I'm really glad you're here, Toothless."

At least he was cheered up a little bit. I allowed the moment to last, letting the two of us drift back into silence. When it seemed appropriate enough, I pushed my legs underneath me, folded my wings, and stood up.

"Let's try something," I said in response to his concerned expression, throwing my head in our universal "let's go" gesture and trying not to look too serious.

Hiccup looked down at his paws, shoulders hunched. "Yeah, I guess we have to go back, don't we?" He let out a long breath and began to stand up. I held out a paw for him to hold onto.

"Well, that's not exactly what I meant, but good point," I said, sending a quick glance over my shoulder for humans. "Anyways, that's for later. Now, ah…"

I lifted my ears and did a quick spin to take in our environment. There was really nothing around but normal forest foliage.

 _Maybe the idea was easier to think of than to do_ , I grumbled to myself. _Oh, who cares! I'm trying it anyways!_

I faced a very confused and very sleep-deprived Hiccup, pointed at him the human way with my paw, and instructed, " _Hiccup!_ "

He stiffened, looked down at himself, and began to frantically paw at the dead furs he used to keep warm. "What?! Where is it?"

"Where is what?" I asked, tipping my head. I blinked. "Oh! No, there's nothing _on_ you, besides those disgusting furs. Why do you use them, anyways?"

Hiccup was already twisting around in desperate search of the "thing" that I had "warned" him of. "Oh, gods, where'd it go? What was it? A bug? A microdragon?"

I couldn't stifle a laugh at that last comment. _Everyone_ knew microdragons didn't exist. "No! It's fine!" I shook my head, grabbed him with a paw, and purred at him. " _It-is-fine,_ " I emphasized, once again slowing my speech and making each individual sound clear and succinct. For convenience, I tried to layer my voice with an easygoing, comforting tone.

Hiccup finally stopped, holding his paws to his heart. Realization lit up in his eyes. "Wait, did you just say…' _it's fine_ '?"

I froze where I stood. Hey, that wasn't even that hard!

"YES!" I shouted, jumping up and prancing around him. "Hah! Take that, doubters! I know you're out there!"

To make things even better, Hiccup actually smiled for the first time in ages! He snickered, easing into a hunting-crouch and batting at me on each go-around. "Jeez, Toothless, what's gotten into you?"

I stopped in front of him with a dignified snort. "Alright… _Hiccup!_ " I articulated, pointing at him the human way again.

"Uh, yeah?" He asked, looking at me like I'd gone and grown fur. Then his eyebrows raised and his eyes brightened. "Wait…"

I pointed at myself. " _Toothless._ "

"…Toothless?" Hiccup repeated.

I beamed, nodding multiple times. Hiccup bounced in place with excitement. I glanced around, turned to the nearest object, and threw a paw towards it. " _Stone!_ "

"Rock?"

"Eh, close enough. _Tree!_ "

"Pine?"

"That's for _later_ , Hiccup. We need to take hatchling-steps, just like with flying. Now—"

"Okay, I gotta try again? How about 'tree'?"

"There you go! Okay, _bird!_ "

"Branches?"

"No, _b-i-r-d!_ "

"Wait! What's this?"

"That would be your… _paw!_ "

"And these?"

" _Eyes!_ "

"Oh! How do you say 'this'?"

" _This!_ "

"Hold on, can you repeat that?"

"Of course! _This._ And _this_ here is…"

 **o.O.o**

By the time we'd finished up basic anatomical and environmental terminology, the sky was orange and the forest was cast in indigo shadows and a light fog. Fireflies hovered in groups around us, making it appear as though the Dragoness of the Moon had idly traced a path on the earth with Her paw.

Hiccup insisted on me repeating words in randomized groups. He would lean in with an intense stare as I spoke, sucking in as much information as possible. His capacity to memorize was honestly impressive. Still, I had my own secret doubts that he would not remember everything once they were not fresh in his mind. How could he possibly learn everything on the first try?

But if Hiccup was anything, he was a fast learner—and one that paid excruciatingly careful attention to detail at that. He had always had a natural knack at absorbing information, even as a dragon. All things considered, he'd learned to fly at a very rapid pace. Hell, he'd even learned how to use his magic in _one_ evening while chained up and injured.

I truly believed that we were going to succeed. It made everything that had happened—even today—seem to have much less of a sting.

Hiccup more than agreed with me, babbling enthusiastically as we pushed our way through the undergrowth. "This is so great, Toothless! How could we have not thought of this before? I mean, I'll be honest, you sound _really_ weird when you translate for me, but this could totally change everything! I wish I could write a cheat sheet—that would mean I'd never have to ask you to clear things up again. And—woah!"

Hiccup's metal paw snagged on something and he fell. I jolted forward and grabbed his dead furs like a scruff, lifting him off the ground for a second and placing him at my side.

"Time for a new term. _Up_ ," I said, crouching down and nodding towards myself.

Hiccup frowned. "But…you used a different word for 'back' earlier."

I shook my head, grabbed at his paw with sheathed teeth, and pulled him towards me. " _No, up!_ "

"Oh!" Hiccup said. He scrabbled onto my back. "So, 'get on'?"

"Hm… _yes_ ," I said with a grin. Same difference.

"Awesome," Hiccup breathed. He leaned forward so that I could see him and gave a brilliant smile. "Toothless, I have to say…you're a genius."

"Finally, you acknowledge it!" I preened, squaring my paws, raising my tail and wings, and puffing my chest up.

Hiccup held on easily even as I straightened my back until it was almost vertical. He laughed and pulled at my ear. "Don't you let it get to your head. We've still got a lot of work to do. Can you quiz me on some words again?"

I sent him a grin over my shoulder as I began to walk back towards his father's wood-cave, making sure to keep a wide perimeter between us and the rest of the human nest. As energetic as we were now, both Hiccup and myself were exhausted after the day's events. We needed _somewhere_ to hide out. The last thing we needed was an angry group of humans yelling at us for no reason.

Additionally, our nestmates were probably more than a little concerned. The last they'd seen their Kings, we had been under attack by a human. I would have to speak to them at some point; even though I had explicitly told them not to attack humans for fear of retaliation against Hiccup and myself, a firm reminder was in order. The Two-Walker named Stormfly had come dangerously close to _killing_ that damned human that had attacked us. I honestly couldn't care less if he died…but Hiccup and the humans of Berk certainly did.

I shook my head. All of that was for later. It seemed that we needed to take hatchling-steps in more areas than one.

"Let's see… _Up._ "

"Get on."

" _Tailfin._ "

"Tail. Wait! Tailfin."

"Good! _Sun_ and _moon?_ "

"Moon, sun."

" _No_ , _sun_ and _moon._ "

"Uh…wait, what? I'm pretty sure I had those."

I rolled my eyes. "And I'm pretty sure you don't." I stopped and deliberately pointed a paw up at the dimming sky. " _No sun._ "

Hiccup shifted around, humming in confusion. "No…moon? Oh—no sun!"

" _Yes!_ " I chirped. "Now, _sun_ and _moon._ "

"Moon, sun," he teased. I put a bounce in my step with a sly grin, and Hiccup nearly lost his grip before he made sure to bat at my ear. "Alright, alright—I know the difference now. Or at least, I'm pretty sure I do."

"I almost don't doubt you," I purred.

The trees ahead began to thin. The fireflies buzzed away. I stepped out into the open and onto the carved pathway of the humans.

I had trekked around so as to pop out right in front of the wood-cave. It came into view once we left the safety of the forest—as well as someone else. I stopped dead in my tracks, crouched low, and began to backpedal back into the undergrowth.

"Toothless!"

I groaned even as Hiccup stiffened. Now, of all times? Today had been hectic enough as it was—was it too much to ask for some rest?

Even so, this conversation would happen eventually.

 _Ugh, might as well get it done and over with,_ I decided.

As I slunk back out into the open, I once again reminded myself: _we are Kings, too._

The human King ran and met us halfway, stopping just at my side. Fear-scent wafted off of him. I tried to push it from my mind.

"Hiccup—thank Thor," he said. He paused with reaching paws, caught between grabbing Hiccup off of me and letting him stay where he was. "Gobber told me about what happened this morning."

Hiccup didn't meet his father's eyes, staring down at his paws and leaning just away. "Uh, yeah…about that. I can explain—"

"No," he said, holding up a paw.

I whipped around to glare at the King, teeth bared.

He looked exhausted and worn out, like he'd had just as bad a morning as we had. "You didn't do anything wrong, Hiccup," he murmured in that infuriating "gentle voice" he used on Hiccup, like he was comforting a fallen dragon suffering from a lethal wound.

I narrowed my eyes at him. "Obviously."

He spared me a glance before continuing, "Dogsbreath was punished. Don't worry about him—he won't go near you again."

For a second I was completely confused. Then, realizing that "Dog's-Breath" was a name, I reared my head back and twisted around to share a look with an equally-surprised Hiccup.

I suppose that…made the King a _little_ better. It was good to see he ruled with at least _some_ sense of justness, even though it was horribly delayed.

"You… _punished_ him?" Hiccup asked in disbelief. "Should I just leave it there or…?"

"Hard labor duties all day for the next three months—without pay," his father said with an official, exact voice, as if reporting findings to the Queen.

Apparently this was very unfortunate, because Hiccup gaped like he'd been given the same verdict. "I, uh, I really appreciate you standing up for me, Dad. But…" He shifted nervously in place and met the King's stare. "I just, I don't want to cause any trouble. There's already enough as it is, and all we did was sit outside."

The King's expression hardened. "I've already made my decision. He would have been given the same treatment if it had been Snotlout or Astrid that he drew that sword on." He reached a paw out to Hiccup, paused for an awkward moment, and then withdrew it. "Hiccup…" he shifted uncomfortably. "Has this happened before?"

Well, yes. Many humans disliked us and had no reason to hide their distrust. Several had offered subtle and not-so-subtle threats, with or without weapons. But it had never been like this morning.

Hiccup had never just _crumbled_ like that, disappearing into his own mind, plummeting into a panic attack that left him too exhausted to even stay conscious.

That, or…

I tried not to make it obvious how carefully I looked over him, searching for the slightest twitch that would indicate what he was thinking. As much as I tried to discourage it, Hiccup had _always_ been good at burying his own problems for the "greater good", or to not "be a burden". Even…even from me.

Right on cue, Hiccup shrugged and turned his head away from the both of us. "It's not that big a deal—both of us are fine now."

The King turned searching eyes towards mine, pleading for my help. I held his gaze and wracked through my head for what to do.

" _And I know I'm in no place to ask you of this, but…if there is any way to help…to show me how to help him…would you?"_

" _Thank you…Toothless."_

That private conversation had led to many of these "help me" looks from the King. I hated how he treated Hiccup as fragile as an egg, how he was always so forward and awkward and focused on pushing the past behind us. Yet all of that made everything worse, and Hiccup was usually the one to pay the penalty.

That agreement…almost felt like I had lied to Hiccup. I had not spoken of it to him, mortified of even the thought of telling him that I'd managed to find a way to talk about him behind his back. Even if it was to help him, I still felt a sense of _wrong._

But the King clearly was too incompetent to figure out how to fix things on his own.

I shook my head at him. _Leave us alone._

"Anyways, it's starting to get late," Hiccup said. "I guess I should go to bed—unless I don't have to go to work tomorrow?" This last bit was said hopefully.

"You're still going," the King sighed. He motioned, and we began to walk towards the wood-cave. "But you are right. Go get some rest—we'll be heading down at first light tomorrow."

Both Hiccup and I groaned. As much as the both of us hated it, refusing to go as we had been for the past few days would only cause more tension between us and the King. Even _I_ knew that we would have to get over it eventually unless we wanted to live in constant conflict, which was the last thing we needed.

"Well, I guess we can look at the bright side," Hiccup grumbled. "I seriously doubt there can be a worse first day than today."

The King hesitated, sending a conflicted look at his son. Then, matter-of-factly, "That's right."

Dragon of the Sun, I hoped that was true.

 **o.O.o**

Hiccup

Step One: Try to actually go to sleep for once, or face another day full of lethargy.

Step Two: Try to eat food that makes you nauseous, or face the constant aches of an underfed stomach.

Step Three: Try not to slip away in the morning, or face Dad's worried anger.

Step Four: Try not to take up Toothless' tempting offers to run away anyways. See above.

Step Five: Try not to have another episode while surrounded by dozens of weapons that were used by your village-mates as they tried to kill you. See above.

…seems simple enough.

We arrived at the smithy when the sun had barely risen, the village still dark and cold. I could barely keep my eyes open. My eyes ached and my ears felt clogged.

Dad said something to me, but I didn't quite catch it. I blinked and he was gone, having walked inside. It took me several seconds of tired mental gymnastics to realize that he was probably talking to Gobber about yesterday.

I pressed up against Toothless and closed my eyes. He draped a wing around me, shielding me from the frigid air. It was like pulling a warm blanket over oneself after a long day. I purred, and a thought crossed my mind: can dragons fall asleep standing up?

" _Hiccup_ ," Toothless whispered, poking me with his nose.

Instantly I was drawn out of my daze. I quieted and pushed away, pawing at my eyes. "Hm? Oh—wow, hey there!"

I grinned down at the one-winged Little-Biter just at our feet. He averted his eyes and set down an impressively-sized cod in front of us. A heartbeat later, he dropped into the deepest of bows and murmured something that I was sure meant, " _My Kings_ ".

Toothless and I ducked our heads in return. Toothless said something that I couldn't catch while I tried to purr in a grateful manner.

As the Little-Biter straightened out, I dropped down to four paws and prodded the fish with my hand. "This is a nice catch!" I said. "Great job!"

The Little-Biter tipped his head to the side, his eyes huge and searching.

Toothless translated for me. The Little-Biter stared up at him intently, jolted in place with wide eyes, and rushed into another bow. He stammered something and it didn't take a genius to know that he was being modest.

"It's fine," I laughed. I turned to Toothless. "How do you say 'thank you'?"

Toothless perked up from his somewhat-bored posture. He began to translate.

Firstly, he raised his voice so that the quieter undertones were easier to hear. I had learned quickly that dragons were capable of producing more than one sound at once. Usually, the "secondary" sounds, or undertones, were used to modify the "words" in some way, such as indicating how the dragon was feeling. A dragon could say a greeting with an "excited" undertone or an "annoyed" undertone depending on the context. I could hear them every now and then with other dragons, but with Toothless it usually only took a little concentration to distinguish them.

With his new way of speaking, Toothless somehow figured out how to make the undertone just as loud as the word. This made each word sound crisp and succinct, rather than muddled up by subtler notes underneath.

Secondly, he pronounced each word just a few milliseconds longer than normal. It wasn't like he was slowing down his speech, but instead dragging the individual sounds out so that I could hear how they were different from the ones before and after.

With these two combined, Toothless ended up speaking with _regularity_. While usually his words and undertones rolled together into one long, indistinguishable sound, I could now pinpoint subtle differences.

He had essentially standardized his form of dragon speech. For such a condensed language, this was huge.

" _Thank you_ " turned out to be a purring sound that rose up and down in pitch twice. The beginning of the phrase had more vibrato than the rest, making it sound as though he was rushing the first part. It was a complicated sound, but not nearly as bad as "sun" and "moon" were.

I nodded, humming. It seemed pretty doable. "Alright, now let me—"

The Little-Biter was looking at Toothless like he'd launched into a song about his feelings. His head was reared back, head tipped completely to the side, and eyes wider than I'd ever seen.

I burst out laughing. Toothless chuckled alongside me, although I could tell his pride was hurt _just_ a little bit.

"Yeah, that's kinda how I felt when I first heard him do that," I told the Little-Biter. He turned his perplexed look on me. With a snicker, I leaned down and butted foreheads with him. He got the message easily enough this time; with a happy chirp, he nudged the fish towards me.

I picked up the cod and sniffed it. It was still wet and smelled of sea salt, bringing with it a torrent of memories of all the many other times I'd encountered this scent. The Little-Biter must've just gone fishing and then walked all the way back up to Berk with his best catch, and all for us.

I felt a little guilty taking it from him. However, it was customary to share food with your King or Queen. To reject it would show that all that hard work had gone to waste and that I didn't think his efforts were worthwhile.

I showed it to Toothless first, reluctant to be the first one to take the offering. He sniffed it himself before taking a delicate bite out of it, leaving half of it behind for me.

" _Thank you_ ," he said to the Little-Biter. The one-winged dragon paused, confused, and took a second to figure it out. Then he gave a huge smile.

I grinned and brought the fish up to my mouth—

" _Hiccup!_ What are you—put that down!"

I jumped, dropping the half-eaten cod. The Little-Biter spun, arched his back, and scampered off in a little green blur. Toothless groaned.

Dad marched out of the smithy and grabbed me by my arm, hauling me to my feet. I jerked away from him.

He didn't notice, too busy looking down at the cod and scrunching his face up with disgust. "Were you about to… _eat_ that?" He asked, giving me another one of his "fatherly concern" looks.

I made myself meet his eye. I couldn't avoid this topic forever, not with how often it happened. "Yes. Remember what I told you about awhile ago, after the Flame—after the Nightmare incident?"

For a second he gaped at me in disbelief. "It's _raw_ , Hiccup," Dad pointed out the obvious. "And you ate this morning."

Yup, I'd noticed. My stomach was already roiling and cramping from the porridge and salted game we'd had for breakfast. Even Toothless had turned his nose up to it. Honestly, the fish was the most appetizing thing I'd seen all day.

"Yeah, but…"

"It's going to make you sick," Dad pressed. I tried not to scoff. "And it's…half-eaten."

Toothless stooped down and grabbed the fish. He stared my father right in the eyes and handed it to me, narrowing his eyes and raising a lip to show teeth.

Welp, now it was worse. I wasn't about to eatit _right_ in front of Dad—not when he'd made it loud and clear how repulsive he thought it was. My shoulders slumped, and I spared just a second to give it a final, longing look.

"I'm…actually not hungry. You can have it," I said, resigned, and held it out to Toothless. When he shook his head, I pushed it towards him, trying to beg with my eyes for him to just take it.

Toothless lowered his ears and frills, crooning out an apology. He grabbed the rest of what _was_ my breakfast, swallowing it in one gulp. As he did so, he made extra-sure to give my father a nasty look.

In the dim sunrise, it was hard to see anything. Usually it would have made Dad hard to read, true to his namesake. Instead he looked wracked with guilt; his brows heavy over his eyes, jaw clenched, lips pressed together.

I turned away. I guess I'd done a shoddy job at hiding my disappointment. Which meant that I'd just sent Dad yet another firm reminder that things were _not_ the same anymore, even if we pretended that they were. I could almost feel the gap between us crack open more.

"Um, anyways," I said, "I got a lot of catching-up to do at work."

In a second Dad's momentary weakness was gone. "I...see. I'll bring you more food for lunch," he said. "No need to take some from a dragon, alright?" He said the last bit almost as a joke, trying to smile.

"It's pretty tasty—you should try it," I said. I was actually serious, although I wasn't sure if Dad caught on.

Dad grimaced and shuddered. "I'll pass on that." He stepped to the side and motioned me forward. "Alright, off to work. I've got to organize some trade, but I'll be sure to stay in the area."

The same mixed feelings from yesterday came upon me. It was almost comforting to hear that Dad was making sure to stay nearby in light of yesterday's…incident. Yet at the same time, all I wanted to do was jump on Toothless' back and take off, away from everyone and everything.

I met my father's eyes again. He was struggling to look "normal", so much that even I noticed. His face was cast in stone, but his eyes were swimming with guilt and confusion and, as much as I hated it, fear. I wondered how I looked to him—did I look just as conflicted as I felt?

I already knew the answer, of course.

I nodded, realizing that I hadn't said anything. As an afterthought, "Thanks, Dad."

We stood there for a moment, basking in the disconnect. Toothless immediately grew tired of it and nudged me.

"I'll, uh, see you later," I said.

"Alright. Work hard." I turned away, only to squeak when Dad shot a hand out and grabbed me. He looked deep into me and begged, "And _please_ , Hiccup, if anything goes wrong, come and tell me." He squeezed my arms. "I promise you, I'll help you."

I swallowed and nodded, and Dad finally released me. I turned and scurried into the forge with Toothless hot on my heels. Gobber made a sarcastic comment to me about being late, but I was too caught up looking back outside to listen.

Dad stood alone in the darkened street, his head hanging and face cast in shadow. For several moments he looked broken, defeated. Then he seemed to shake it off, and with a final glance towards the smithy, he turned his back and walked away.

He thought that I hated him.

It was so obvious, and it stung in a deep way that made it hard to breathe or think. It wasn't news to me at all. I would often lie awake at night, staring at the ceiling or stars and mulling it over. I _didn't_ hate him; he was my _father_. I _had_ to love him. I _wanted_ to, and I knew that he felt the same about me.

It was just…really hard to. It was clear that Dad was doing his best to fix things, but the Viking Way of resolving conflict wouldn't work; it was what started this whole mess in the first place. So he just tried with every bit of strength in him to bring everything back to the norm, no matter how impossible it really was. No matter how much worse it made the both of us feel.

I watched him go, the distance between us ever-increasing. Eventually Toothless made his way over to me, wrapping a wing around me and guarding me from the sight.

 **o.O.o**

The sun rose, and with the light it brought came work.

Everything that had happened yesterday weighed like a mountain on my mind. I felt distant, like I wasn't actually there, like any moment now something would happen. More than once, I was shaken out of a daze by either Gobber or Toothless.

Gobber himself was acting funny, being overly-nice to me. I had a feeling it had something to do with Dad talking to him earlier this morning. Still, he was the same mentor I'd always had, with no tolerance for slacking off.

"Here, smooth this one out for me—it's got a nasty nick in it," Gobber said to me about an hour after our arrival. He thrust a sword right into my arms.

Chills raced down my spine. My stomach twisted. I wrenched away from the weapon, clutching at my abdomen and sucking in faint breaths to fight off the nausea. Toothless was at my side in an instant, a deep growl rising in his throat.

Gobber watched the entire thing play out with a knowing look in his eyes. Without saying a word, he took the sword off the ground. "Well, actually," he drawled, "I think I need yer help with some molds instead. This hunk 'a junk isn't worth the effort."

He didn't ask me to work on weapons again.

I tried to fill the void by helping Gobber like I had been yesterday, handing him tools and helping out where I could. Whenever there was truly nothing else I could do, I retreated to my old workroom and distracted myself by scribbling with a charcoal pencil and paper, pausing periodically to stretch my hands when they cramped up. Writing runes was still impossible—so taking notes on Toothless' and my new dragon language was out the window.

Instead I drew. I couldn't hold the pencil normally, forced to clasp it in a fist. The feeling of loss, of wanting something I used to have, opened a pit in my stomach. I trudged on anyways in an effort to forget it.

Spheres and rectangles were first, since they were nice, simple shapes. Then trees and mountains, which could look somewhat recognizable even with my shaking hand. Toothless hovered behind me the entire time, eyes huge and inquisitive. At one point, I offered the charcoal pencil to him, and he gleefully smashed it right into the paper, snapping it in half and flattening the point.

Needless to say, Toothless wasn't allowed to draw using pencils anymore.

While my drawing time was short, I found myself relaxing more and more as I moved the pencil across the paper and heard the familiar scritching sound that had once filled many sleepless nights. I certainly wasn't making masterpieces, and they weren't even close to being up to par with what I _used_ to be able to do. Despite this, it was almost therapeutic, taking my mind off of all of the problems the outside world threw at me and giving me just a few minutes of reprieve.

My hands ached, and sharp stings of pain shot through them. There was still a sense of wrong, of unnaturalness, of oddity to it all. But my life was full of that now, and this was at least a good thing. It was hard to push it aside, to draw my mind into focus, but I kept doing it anyways.

Lunchtime rolled around, and instead of eating, I sat in the back and doodled away. Gobber was all kinds of unhappy with this, complaining about how Dad would get annoyed at him for not giving me a break, but I brushed him off. It's not like he would know.

For some time, it was blissfully quiet. I'd managed to make a somewhat-decent scribble that _kind of_ looked like a Shadow-Blender if you looked at it from the right angle and used your imagination. I picked it up and felt the inner artist inside me die a little bit at the blatant errors caused by my unsteady hand. Still, I turned to Toothless with a big smile.

"Look!" I said, brandishing the picture. "It's us! W-well, you, anyways."

Toothless drew closer with a raised eyebrow. " _Toothless, Hiccup?_ " He asked.

"What, isn't it obvious?" I said. "Can't you see it's highly stylized?" I waved at the image dramatically, like I was showing off some expensive, intricately-decorated ship.

" _This?_ " Toothless chuckled. He made a huge show of leaning back and forth and looking at the paper like there was food hidden in it. " _This, yes?_ "

"Oh, come on, at least I didn't squish the pencil to pieces like a certain _somebody_."

He gave a dignified little snort as if the pencil had been asking for it. Then he perked up and pointed at the paper like a human would. His voice raised, and he made a distinct thrumming sound that trailed off at the end along with a click.

I tipped my head aside. "Um, paper?"

" _No..._ "

"Drawing, then," I said, grinning when Toothless nodded several times.

" _Toothless drawing!_ " He chirped, now pointing at himself. I scrunched my face up in confusion, and he repeated, " _Toothless…drawing._ " He then stomped a foot on the ground.

"Okay, you lost me there," I said. "Are you saying it's a drawing of you?"

" _No_ ," Toothless said. He hummed, thinking.

I leaned in, focusing all of my concentration on him.

"Aren't you supposed to be working?"

"Wah!" I yelped, leaping to my feet and spinning around. My prosthetic caught on something and I stumbled to the ground. At the same time, Toothless jumped so high he hit his head on the roof. He ducked and pawed at it with an aggravated hiss. The end result was both of us sitting on the floor, moaning over little things.

To her credit, Astrid didn't laugh. She actually looked flustered, rushing forward to help. "O-oh, I'm sorry, lemme help you—!"

I flinched away from her hand, curling up and pressing my head against the ground. Astrid's eyes widened and she took a step backwards.

Toothless stood upright and helped me up. He gave Astrid one hell of a side-eye, rumbling in a suspicious tone. Honestly, I felt kind of the same.

I hadn't spoken to Astrid in some time. She had approached me shortly after I'd…recovered…and had apologized profusely for everything she'd done. It had been the first and only time I had ever seen Astrid Hofferson close to tears.

Like most people on Berk, I still hadn't a clue how to act around her. There was always that lurking anxiety that the moment I turned my back, I would be struck.

I knew Astrid would never do that. I knew she was sincere. I knew she felt terrible about how she had treated me in the past.

I knew that she had once tried to kill me, too.

Astrid cleared her throat. I started, realizing that I'd spaced out again and that she'd been waiting for me to say something.

"Um, what are you doing here, Astrid?" I finally asked. I tried to look out into the forge for Gobber, but he was still on lunch break and nowhere to be found.

"I was actually looking for you," Astrid said, brightening. "I saw Gobber leave for lunch and thought I'd sneak in." She shifted uncomfortably and then steeled herself, straightening with determination. "I came here to talk about yesterday."

I looked at Toothless, who shifted closer and wrapped his tail around me. He glared at her for a second before…giving up?

" _Thank you_ ," Toothless sighed. He ducked his head for just a second, even if it was done with _quite_ a bit of reluctance.

My jaw hit the floor. Toothless, _thanking_ Astrid? For what?

"What is it?" Astrid asked, looking between the two of us with increasing alarm. She cringed guiltily. "I-I'm sorry, Hiccup, I should've known that it's a sensitive topic. Gods, I'm an idiot."

"N-no, it's fine," I said, pawing at the air and then flinching at the stinging pain associated with the movement. "Toothless is actually…glad?" I gave him a confused look. He rolled his eyes and huffed.

"He's probably just glad about Stormfly. She did all the work," Astrid said, relieved. She looked up and met my eyes evenly. "That's also why I'm here, though."

She took an eager step forward. I frowned, moving backwards and closer to Toothless. Every inch of me was prickling with nervous energy. My little drawing area, which had been warm and inviting minutes ago, was now trapping me here. I was suddenly aware of how small the room was, how dark it was, the choking scent of smoke, the way I could barely make out any fine details like I'd been blinded. I wanted _out_ , but Astrid was blocking the way and I wasn't big enough to rush past her anymore.

"And…what would that be…?" I asked, eyes darting back and forth.

"Well, I noticed that Stormfly was really protective of me yesterday—she taught Dogsbreath a lesson for sure." A proud grin slid across her face before she grew serious again. "A lot of people are scared that the dragons here are only nice because you two are here, Hiccup. But Stormfly didn't have to save me like that, even if you were in the line of fire."

I had absolutely no idea what she was talking about. That didn't stop a sinking feeling from settling in my gut, sending adrenaline shooting through my body. That incident had happened right outside, and here we were, _trapped…_

Toothless wrapped a wing around me and threw his head with a grunt. _Get to the point_ , he was saying.

Astrid took notice and bit her lip, her confidence waning. "I was wondering if we could somehow… _show_ people that dragons are tame now. That way people would be less scared, and things like what happened yesterday wouldn't happen." She held up a hand and her voice hardened. "Don't get me wrong—Dogsbreath is a total jerk and deserves every day of punishment he got, but when you think about it, he did all that because he doesn't feel safe around the dragons. I think that we should—"

 _Dogsbreath_ didn't feel safe? _That_ was the point?

My snarl echoed off the walls. Astrid froze where she stood and held a hand to her mouth, face pale and eyes huge. Even Toothless, usually well-prepared for anything, let out a surprised yelp.

I realized far, far too late what I'd done. Time almost stopped around me as I took it all in, suddenly aware of my painfully-hammering heart, the ringing in my ears, the gasping way I was breathing as if I'd been running for a long time. The quiet that I had enjoyed earlier was now deafening, suffocating.

Astrid and I stared into each other's eyes, neither of us having the slightest clue what to do.

"I…I'm sorry, Hiccup," she whispered, almost like she was afraid of breaking the silence.

My face burned. I turned away from her as Toothless held me close, wanting nothing more than to hide somewhere dark and alone and never come out again. Shame blasted through me as I cursed my own recklessness and stupidity. It was exactly _this_ kind of thing that would land Toothless and me in huge trouble. It was dumb luck that it had been Astrid at the end of it and not someone like Dogsbreath.

"Dragons aren't tame, Astrid." I swallowed, making sure to keep her in my peripheral vision. "They're not pets. W—they're just as scared as the villagers, too."

Astrid regained her confidence so fast I was a little jealous. She nodded and stated, "Then we need to work on fixing that. _Both_ ways."

She was right, but this was the _last_ thing I wanted to talk about. "I'll think of something later," I muttered.

"A…alright." Astrid shifted in place. I felt her gaze driving into me, waiting. She shuffled and then bent over. I almost thought she was bowing until she straightened up and held something out to me. "Here—you dropped this."

I twisted back towards her, taking in the confused yet pitied look she was giving me. It just made everything worse. To avoid it, I grabbed the poorly-drawn picture of the Shadow-Blender from her with a short, "Thanks."

The picture was bent and dirty. I traced my hand over the lines, if they could even be called that. It really _was_ nearly impossible to see that it was a Shadow-Blender. The drawing was just too clumsy, even for a normal Viking. It was something in-between; barely a dragon, barely the work of a human.

I crumpled up the paper and threw it aside. Toothless whined in concern.

"Hiccup…?"

"It was a bad drawing anyways."


	3. Chapter 3

**Hello, everyone! Back at it!**

 **Thank you all again for all of your support! I'd like to thank PunksterViking, Cyeithen, Anonymouse Noob the 2nd, Checkingdude, Suprise Crayfish, Brenne, DevoutRelic, Blocksmasher2, Dragonboy111, FMAlover32, Zeklyn, TheFuriousNightFury, AngelofGrace96, monoace, Lightwavers, Samateus-Taal, Siganna, RedLightningD608, MisstyX0007, Rambling Drabble, Timmichangas, vampireharry the 2, and Guest reviewers for all of your kind words! I'd also like to thank my two betas, Crysist and Goldengriffiness, for all your help with these chapters.**

 **Without further ado, enjoy! Please feel free to leave a review, as they are much appreciated!**

* * *

 **Chapter 3**

Toothless

The second Astrid was gone, so were we.

Hiccup didn't hesitate, climbing onto my back and trusting that I knew what to do. I padded carefully out of the claustrophobic smoke-cave, sending one last look over my shoulder at Hiccup's destroyed drawing. There was an entrance in the back, but it was closed and Hiccup had complained at me more than once for "breaking" things by forcing them open. I'd always thought they'd looked better and more open afterwards, but humans had odd choices in aesthetics.

I shoved my way out the front and into the glorious sunlight—and stepped right into the King, almost knocking him over.

"Oh, Dragon of the Sun!" I whined.

The King brushed himself off, maintaining his balance despite having a rushed Shadow-Blender almost bowl him over. "Ah, hello, Toothless," he greeted me offhandedly. His eyes focused on Hiccup, who shrunk closer onto my back. "Hiccup, I've brought you two a meal as promised. You're on your lunch break, right?"

He offered up some sort of wrapping made of fake furs. It smelled strongly of fish and smoke, but not anything else—not even that disgusting, briny substance that had been on Hiccup's meat this morning.

I couldn't believe what I was smelling. By the gods, did the King just give us _edible_ food?

"Oh!" Hiccup said. "Um, thanks."

His father handed him the wrapping. I gave a formal nod and stepped around him—only for him to intercept.

"Hiccup, where are you going?" The King said. He almost said it as a statement; he already knew the answer.

"Lunch…break?" Hiccup tried.

The King responded with a stern, authoritative look. I returned it. He wasn't looking at me, though, and its effect was lost on the dumb human.

"Hiccup, we made a deal," the King scolded, folding his paws at his chest. "You can't keep doing this, disappearing at a moment's notice and leaving no sign of when you'll be back."

" _Yes_ ," I hissed, "we can."

The King met my eyes, defiant. Hiccup fiddled with the parcel he'd been given.

Nearby, our nestmates were poking their heads over tree-caves and around corners. They began to murmur to each other about interrupting. I sent a short growl at them, throwing my head; the lastthing we needed was _another_ altercation _here_. They caught the hint easily, withdrawing with watchful eyes and ready to protect their Kings—their Saviors.

The weight disappeared off my back. Hiccup wobbled on his feet for a second before finding his footing.

" _Hiccup?_ " I gasped, turning to him with wide eyes.

He gave me a forced, reassuring grin, and faced the King. "You're right. I'm sorry, Dad. It's just…hard."

The King studied Hiccup, looking over him with the slightest hints of worry. "What happened?" He asked, alarm creeping into his voice. "I swear, if someone's attacked you—!"

I began to catch the faintest whiff of fear-scent. I lowered my eyes, wanting to curse _somebody_ even though it wasn't that simple. Dragon of the Sun, why did this have to be so _hard?_

"No, no!" Hiccup rushed, pawing at the air just like he used to as a dragon and nearly dropping the package in the process. "It's just…being in the forge is really…" He waved his paw, looking for the proper word.

"Suffocating?" I supplied. "Aggravating? Claustrophobic?"

Hiccup focused on the package held loosely in his paws. He ducked his head, shoulders drooping. Almost too quiet to hear, he said, "It's just not _me_ anymore, Dad."

The King himself seemed taken aback by Hiccup's honesty. "It's only been half a day, Hiccup," he comforted, placing a paw on Hiccup's shoulder. "How can you be so sure?"

Hiccup tensed at his touch before shaking his head with a shrug. The King dropped his paw, and I pressed against Hiccup's side with a purr. He managed a small grin.

With watchful, searching eyes, the King studied us in a way that made him seem lost, like he was scanning our faces to see if he knew us. I stared pointedly at the sword that he himself wore at his midsection.

"Why don't you come with me?" He blurted.

I tensed, opening my wings and lifting my ears. Hiccup had the same reaction, straightening his back with raised eyebrows.

"I-I mean, come walk with me while I check on the trade supplies at the docks," the King stammered. "A breath of fresh air might do you some good."

Hiccup and I exchanged a glance. Admittedly, it was awfully cramped and dark in that smoke-cave—and that was ignoring all of the menacing weapons held within. Not to mention that we had already been planning on leaving.

Even so, the King was downright _awkward_ at his greatest, and quite threatening at his worst.

The King took our silence as rejection and lowered his head and eyes. "I…understand. In that case—"

"No," Hiccup said. His scales turned a pinkish color, and he held his elbow with a paw. "I mean, sure. We'll go with you."

It was almost painful to watch how much the King brightened at this. Life seemed to swoop back into him, hope filling his eyes and a real smile settling on his lips. "Then let's be off then!" He exclaimed, giving Hiccup good-natured slap on the back. Hiccup stumbled forward, and the King grabbed hold of him before even I could. "Ah, sorry. Got ahead of myself."

Hiccup gave a small, somewhat nervous laugh. I narrowed my eyes, keeping a careful watch on the King's movements.

I truly wantedthings to be better between the three of us—just as much as Hiccup and the King did. Yet I had some serious reservations about this game of dancing around the problem, and the fact that I couldn't even complain to _Hiccup_ about it was starting to wear me away. If the King seriously wanted to help, then he shouldn't be dragging us around at his bidding, even if Hiccup let him for the sake of keeping the unsteady peace.

Yet with no other options than to flee, which would only result in more trouble, we were forced to follow along and continue our infuriating "everything is fine" act. All I could do was keep my teeth and claws readied and hope that this would be better than the smoke-cave.

 **o.O.o**

It was _not_ better. At all.

The docks were painfully loud, full of squawking gulls and shouting humans. The ocean readily leaped up and soaked us with frigid water. The sun was warm overhead, but it didn't stay the chill.

Worst of all, it was covered with floating-trees, the same ones where Hiccup had been trapped—where Hiccup and I had, however briefly, _died_. The very sight of them made me shudder and put me on high alert, muscles tense and wings raised. It took all I had not to creep around with my back arched and tail whipping about.

Hiccup took notice of my discomfort and placed a paw on my neck. I relaxed at his touch, thankful for him being there.

He took in all the chaos with bewilderment. "So, I see we've got some fishing ships back…"

I noticed as well—the smell of fresh-caught fish was rather strong. Several dragons were brashly _sitting_ on the floating-trees, much to the annoyance of the humans aboard. I sniffed with disdain at the sight of a middle-aged, orange Hum-Wing being chased away from one of the contraptions used to hold fish. The human wasn't wielding a weapon—they actually had some kind of metallic "basket" with them—but it was the thought that counted.

"That's first," the King said. "Come on, let's see how the catch was this time. There's been some problems finding shoals up in the north, which is where this fleet was sent."

We stepped around creaky wooden supports and busy humans on our way towards one of the floating- trees with fish. Dragons were skittering around in search of dropped food, and all that saw us immediately dropped into respectful bows. The Hum-Wing that had been chased around by a Viking stopped in front of us, placing her nose to the wood and spreading her wings out to their fullest extent. Hiccup and I gave short bows in return even as the King stepped in front of Hiccup.

"My Kings, my Saviors!" The Hum-Wing greeted. She remained half-crouched and grinned. "It's unusual to see you here. Why, may I ask?"

"Family bonding," I deadpanned. "Do you normally visit here?"

The Hum-Wing nodded exuberantly, eyes flashing up to meet mine and Hiccup's. "I've found that some humans will give food offerings if you ask them enough." She rolled her eyes. "They are so strange! They don't understand the simplest things. It takes all of my effort just to get one fish. Oh! But you two are in luck today!"

I snorted when the Hum-Wing bounced in place like a hatchling. Out of the corner of my eye, the King stepped closer to Hiccup, using his own body as a shield.

"And why is that?" I asked, glancing around. There didn't seem to be anything 'lucky' here—just noise and confusion and humans. It was only the occasional comforting sight of a relaxed dragon that allowed me to relax just enough, to not tell Hiccup to jump on my back.

"There are often fledglings that form flares around here," the Hum-Wing explained. I balked, horror filling me, and she threw her head in a casual way. "Oh, no, no—don't worry about them, my King. Several adults and myself keep careful watch over them, I tell you. Those little runts don't set a scale near a human without our supervision."

Fledglings were a step above hatchlings, distinguished only by their ability to fly. They were notorious for being rebellious and for using their newfound freedom to get into trouble. Adults nearby regardless, I did _not_ like the sound of that. At all.

Especially since there were no fledglings in sight.

"Where are they?!" I demanded, whipping my head about and opening my wings. I tensed the muscles in my neck, readying myself to filter gas.

"Toothless, what's wrong?" Hiccup asked in alarm, stepping around his father and placing his paws on my shoulder.

It was enough to draw me out of my momentary fear. I took a deep breath and forced myself to appear calm. The fledglings were safe—this much was obvious. No matter how frightening it was that they spent their time here, that was what mattered.

" _It is fine_ ," I told him. He tipped his head to the side. A second passed, and he nodded with a little smile.

The Hum-Wing took this all in with a keen eye. " _Toothless_?" She asked. "And my, what an odd dialect. I can hardly understand it. Is that spoken in the south?" At my surprised look, she bowed again. "My King, with all respect, I am not _that_ young that I only understand the nest's language."

I dipped my head a little. "My apologies. I must admit, it's easy to forget which dragons are the more scholarly."

The Hum-Wing preened at the compliment and rose, but kept her head and eyes low in respect. "My deepest gratitude, my King. To answer your previous question, the fledglings' flare has started a competition to see who can fly the farthest. I suspect many of them are on the opposite end of the island. In the meantime, there is a much higher chance of getting second or even third food offerings from the humans without the young around to snatch all of them up."

As long as the fledglings weren't _here_ , I was happy. "Thank you very much for your report. I'm very grateful to know all of this."

 _And to put an end to it_ , I thought to myself.

The Hum-Wing bowed one final time. "That is what I hope. Take care, my Kings!"

"And you as well," I dismissed. The Hum-Wing opened her wings and buzzed off overhead. I watched her go, a pang of longing striking through me, and then turned to Hiccup.

In hindsight, Hiccup and I _should_ have known about all of this. As Kings, we were responsible for our nestmates' health and safety. The thought that all of this had slipped by unnoticed made me ill at ease, wondering what else I might have missed.

Hiccup leaned into me, offering a comforting smile when I met his eyes. I shook off the fear. No use in chasing shadows, after all.

"Is everything good?" He asked, eyes swimming with concern.

I nodded absentmindedly. How in the gods' name was I going to explain this to him?

A human paw clamped on Hiccup's shoulder. He yelped and spun towards his father.

The King yanked his paw back as if afraid that he'd injured Hiccup. "Ah, sorry." He cleared his throat. "Do you…know what it wanted?"

Hiccup huffed. "No, I didn't understand what _she_ said."

A second passed where the King raised an eyebrow, confused. "…I see. Well, if it's not important, let's be off then."

We approached one of the floating-trees without further interruption. A tall, skinny human with tan fur leapt off of it and ran over to the King. What commenced was probably the most oddly-ritualistic, the most strange, the most _boring_ task I had been forced to suffer through since my time living in the humans' nest.

Talking, talking, talking. That's all these humans ever did—but now with the added bonus of food! Yet somehow they turned what _could_ have breathed some interest into the subject into its own downfall, adding another layer of drabness to it all.

There was quite a lot of talk about fishing. Sounds interesting? Not at all—all that was discussed was where to put the food, because humans thought that was it was important to put fish in different places depending on the season. At one point, the other human, whom I gathered to be the leader of the floating-trees, produced a drawing and began poking at random places on it. He yammered about where they found much less fish in one area over the other. It made no sense; did they not know that fish could move around in the ocean? Why would they get the exact same amount each time?

Everything that had been said could have been summarized in a few words by a dragon: the hunt was successful, but we found significantly less fish in the north and need to expand our hunting territory. There. Done.

After several minutes of the King listening to the leading human drone on and on, I rolled my head to look over at Hiccup and gave him the flattest look I could manage.

He struggled not to laugh, covering his mouth with a paw and pretending to cough. "Oh, come on, Toothless," Hiccup whispered to me, keeping his eyes on the other human to act like he was paying attention. "At least we're not in the smithy."

"I can feel my scales turning gray!" I returned.

"Would you rather—wait, what was that?" He raised his voice, drawing the attention of the King and the leading human, both of whom had been ignoring us for the most part.

"At our furthest point, we spotted a large flock of dragons far off in the distance," the human said. He quirked an eyebrow, blue eyes curious. "Why? Do you know them?"

I perked my ears, suddenly grateful for Hiccup actually paying attention. Were those dragons from another nest?

More importantly, were they trying to take up the territory left behind after the Queen's fall?

Hiccup seemed to be wondering the same. "Well, no, all of our nest is here. But where were they heading?"

"Southeast. Not in-line with Berk, but in the general direction," the human said.

So they were traveling towards our nest, then. That...was not good.

My brother seemed frozen himself, his skin a paler shade than normal and eyes wide. It made the shadows blotching the skin under his eyes all the more apparent, making him appear almost like a ghost.

"What's wrong?" The King asked. "Do you know something, Hiccup?"

He let his paw rest right at his sword, and both Hiccup and I tensed and drew closer to each other.

"No," Hiccup said, somehow managing to keep his voice calm. He ripped his gaze from the sword and stared directly into his father's eyes. "It's just strange that there's another nest so close to ours. They might be trying to find more territory or traveling, but we shouldn't jump to conclusions."

"Which are?" The King pressed. He stepped closer, looming above.

Hiccup hunched his shoulders. "It's too early to know. They might change direction or fly right past us."

"Or they might attack us," the leading human filled in with a bored tone.

"We don't—we don't know anything yet," Hiccup repeated, growing more uneasy by the second. I let a soft growl escape me.

"Yes, we do," the King interrupted. "We know we should be ready now. If those dragons attack Berk, we cannot be defenseless." He turned to the other human. "Thank you, Gorge."

"Sure thing," the leading human said. He cracked a grin and said, "I'll let you know if our impending doom is closer after our next expedition."

With a grunt, the King grabbed Hiccup's arm and began to drag him away. I hissed at him, just barely containing myself from striking him. I was _so tired_ of him forcing us to do his bidding and being unable to stop him. At least, not without severe retaliation.

"Wait, h-hold on, Dad," Hiccup stammered, struggling to keep up and metal leg slipping on the slick ground. "What do you mean, 'we have to be ready'?"

"Let him go!" I demanded, stalking just at the King's heels and whipping my tail. Obviously, he couldn't understand me—I knew that _far_ too well—but that only made it all the more frustrating.

"We need to fortify the island. I will send word to our neighboring tribes to see if they have metal to trade, but they have not for some time," The King said, never looking down at us once to check for our input. "You'll be having much more work soon if we are able to get more material to work with in the smithy. In the meantime, we need to push any household repairs off until all of our weapons are repurposed."

" _Let him go!_ " I gasped when Hiccup almost took a fall, only managing to catch himself at the last second. He shot me a worried glance over his shoulder and waved his paw at me to stand down. I threw my head in disdain. We were Shadow-Blenders, we were Kings, and we should not be treated with such blatant disrespect.

"Dad, could you please just hold on a second—"

The King drew to a halt and stopped Hiccup just as he almost ran into him, holding both of his shoulders in his paws. "Will the dragons here fight for our tribe or against us?"

" _Fight?_ " Hiccup said, rearing his head back and trying to wriggle his way out of the King's grip. "Dad, wait—you're jumping to conclusions."

"Are we safe from them? Will the dragons here fight for us?" The King demanded, tightening his hold. Hiccup tried to step back, but the King did not let him break away.

 _That_ was it. I was tired of the King using his greater strength to trap us, to _force_ what he wanted.

"Define ' _us_ '," I snarled, stepping forward and showing my teeth at their fullest. "Hiccup is part of _our_ nest—not yours."

The King's eyes flicked over to look at me—and then he stiffened once he realized just how much he'd managed to piss me off. In one smooth, instinctual movement, his paw flew to his side and grasped his sword.

Hiccup wrenched away with a gasp, paws flailing, and hit the ground—hard.

"Hiccup!" I rushed towards him, guilt crashing through me. "Gods, I'm sorry—I should have caught you! Are you alright?"

Hiccup sat up, but his eyes were fixed behind me, his scales pale, his limbs locked in place. Fear-scent stung at me like deadly poison. I wrapped my tail around him and twisted back towards the King, who was frozen where he stood.

"We do not fight for _you!_ " I snarled, opening my wings and standing tall. Lifting my head up, I called, " _Our nestmates, to us!_ "

Every nestmate in sight snapped to attention. The steady hustle and bustle of the docks crashed to an abrupt stop, replaced by stillness and screams as they returned my call with a mixture of alarm and trepidation. Many took to the air, sending heavy drafts upon the deck and displaying just how _outnumbered_ the King and the rest of the humans were. Every eye was on Hiccup and me—and, by association, the King.

In mere heartbeats, every single dragon in the docks had readied themselves, prepared to eliminate the threat...and the King knew it.

I smirked and lifted my head as he became very, very still. His eyes trailed through the mass of our nestmates, no doubt wondering how he could possibly fend them off if he continued to threaten us. Hopefully the message would be driven through his thick skull.

"Hiccup," he said in an odd, calm voice. "What's happening?"

Hiccup was tense, leaning closer to me, eyes still set firm on the weapon. I hissed at it, and every dragon echoed me.

The King followed Hiccup's gaze, brows scrunched in confusion. A moment passed, and then he started, flinching his paw back as if his sword had snapped at him.

"Is that—? Hiccup, I would _never_ —do you really think I'd use this to…?" He trailed off, finally taking the time to _look_ at us and finding all the answer he needed.

"My Kings, shall we strike?" A dragon—the Hum-Wing from before—growled from above.

The King grasped the sword again in his paw. He held the other paw straight out towards me, open and vulnerable, just out of biting range. I snorted, easing into a wider stance. Hiccup remained so stiff and still that he almost seemed tied down, placing his front paws flat on the dock and breathing in quick, shallow bursts.

"D-dad…?" He stuttered, almost too quiet for me to hear.

The sword gave an angry screech. Hiccup let out a small, choked gasp, recoiling backwards. I bared teeth and gums and filtered gas into my throat. A steady hiss filled the air as our nestmates followed my lead, preparing to fire.

The King turned away from us and thrust his paw in a wide arc.

The ocean reared up, catching the sword and swallowing it into its murky depths the moment it made contact.

I nearly choked on my fire, my ears standing straight up. Our nestmates murmured in confusion as the King of humans ripped weapon after weapon from his midsection, casting them aside like carrion. He turned back towards us and crouched down to Hiccup's and my eye level, leaving his neck and underside exposed.

He paused, jaw working soundlessly as he tried to find the right words. "Hiccup?" He asked, sounding as lost as his weapon.

I finally managed to look away from him and back towards Hiccup. He was breathing rapidly, clawing at his chest, shaking and staring straight ahead into nothingness. Dread struck me deeper than any claw or fire. He had been right beside me, slipping away from the world second by second.

And I had done nothing to help him, too focused on fighting some damn human.

Swallowing my shame, I wrapped a wing around him and pressed the side of my face against his. " _H-Hiccup_ ," I tried to purr to him in as reassuring a tone as I could muster, " _it is fine._ " He tipped his head towards me, and I pressed, " _Up—Hiccup, up! It is fine!_ "

Hiccup leaned into me, bringing up a trembling paw to grab hold of me. He grit his teeth and clenched his eyes shut.

" _It is fine,_ " I soothed. " _It is fine, Hiccup_ …"

No response. It wasn't working—gods damn it, it wasn't working! The King made a motion to come closer, his eyes wide and skin as pale as his son's, and I shot a furious glare at him. Turning back to Hiccup, I wracked my brain for what to do—for a way to snap him out of it.

" _Hiccup!_ " I said as loud as I dared. I leaned in and drew my tongue over his face, despite the fact that he _hated_ the feeling of his fur getting wet.

Hiccup jolted in place. He snapped his eyes open, but still stared off into nothing. Slower than an elder, he brought shaky paws to the ground and lifted himself up, head bowed and shoulders hunched as if he were carrying a great weight on his back. I lifted my wing to give him some breathing room and nosed his soaked fur.

" _Hiccup?_ " I murmured.

He turned to me, eyes wide and distant. He was still shaking and gasping. I went to lick him again, and he leaned away this time.

"It's not…" He breathed. "I—"

He cut himself off and sat up, suddenly alert. I glanced to the side and growled at the sight of the King, who had stood up and was standing much closer than before.

We stared at the defenseless King and he returned it, his eyes pained and his trembling paws held up to show he meant no harm.

Hiccup was the first to look away. He blinked up at our nestmates and lifted a shaking paw, giving a weak wave and a trembling hiss. It was a gesture our nestmates had grown used to, meant to be both calming and commanding: _Stand down._

Our nestmates clearly did not want to back down, but still bowed midair, many giving a quiet, " _Yes, my King._ " They lifted away towards new perches, and the dragons that had remained grounded loosened their battle stances.

The humans on the docks, deathly quiet up until this point, began to speak among themselves. Some were impressed—but the large majority were fearful, both at the sudden hostility from our nestmates and the fact that Hiccup had been the one to quell them—to _command_ them.

"I suppose that…answers my question."

I almost sprung into the air in shock, having nearly forgotten how close the King was standing.

Hiccup looked away and took a deep breath, holding his paws to his chest. With a soft growl, he put his paws to the ground and stood up, leaning heavily on me for support.

"I…I'm sorry," he rasped, his voice unsteady. "I was…startled."

 _It's not your fault!_ I wanted to howl. I pressed up against him, crooning in a soothing, reassuring manner.

The King took a shuddering breath and, in a single stride, closed the gap between us. I began to move away, tugging at Hiccup's furs, but he remained where he stood on shaking legs.

The King hesitated. His eyes were glossy and wide and terrified.

"Hiccup…do you really think that I would hurt you?"

Hiccup grimaced as if in pain, hanging his head. I tried to shoot the King a deathly glare, but couldn't keep myself from looking over at the ocean, where he had thrown his sword aside like rotten meat without the slightest hesitation.

"You grabbed your sword," Hiccup said breathlessly, refusing to meet the King's eyes. "I just…I don't know!" He groaned in frustration, scrubbing at his head and clenching his fur in his claws. "I don't know _why_ I…it reminded me of…of before."

"It's gone now," the King said, gaining some of his confidence back. "It will never draw near you again. _I_ will never do so with anything ever again, Hiccup. I promise."

We stared. The King wilted.

"…you believe me, don't you?"

None of us said anything. A great shadow seemed to be looming overhead, cackling at our misfortune.

Hiccup gave me a lost look. I met his eyes, begging the gods for _something_ , for just a _little_ bit of our link to reignite.

My brother gave a long, tired sigh, seeming to shrink half his size. "I'm sorry for causing a scene again," he said, defeated.

The King studied him with that same pitied look that he had worn yesterday after asking us if humans had attacked us before. He drew away slowly, reluctantly, and said, "You did nothing wrong, Hiccup." For the first time, he looked away from his son and at his own subjects. "All of you, back to work!" He snapped.

The humans scrambled across the docks, unwilling to challenge their leader and cause even more tension.

"As for us…" the King sighed. "Let's…head home for the day. There's nothing much left to do here."

"Alright," Hiccup said, his voice dull. He reached a paw up to me, and I set my shoulder down to allow him to more easily get his footing. Immediately I felt my heart calm some, my muscles relaxing as he climbed to safety onto my back.

The moment he was secure, he slumped, barely holding on with limp paws. The King lifted a paw up for a moment, but didn't dare touch him.

With a final glance at the discarded weapons, I hurried past the King, leaving him alone to his thoughts.

 **o.O.o**

Astrid

Stupid, stupid, stupid!

"I can't believe myself!" I shouted, throwing my hands up in the air. "What was I thinking? Of _course_ talking about that would only make things worse."

Stormfly looked at Barf and Belch and clucked. The Zippleback snapped to attention and pretended like it hadn't been sniffing out my lunch, waiting for an opportunity to snatch it from me. Just behind it, Tuffnut was lurking, hoping to steal said lunch from his dragon after his dragon stole my lunch from me, because for some reason that was how he got excitement into his life.

"So your solution is to find Hiccup and bring it up _again?_ " Fishlegs asked, sitting cross-legged beside me. He grabbed a stone from a pile he'd collected and threw it behind him at Meatlug, who caught it with vigor.

"Yeah, even for you, that's kinda dumb," Ruffnut said, walking over from her dragon and sitting between us.

I shot them a look, Tuffnut and Snotlout included. "Hey, _you_ guys were the ones who followed me here."

"Eh, you're the only fun one around here," Ruffnut said, giving me a friendly shove. She leaned over and snagged one of Fishleg's stones, throwing it at Tuffnut.

Tuffnut screamed in mock-agony, Barf and Belch sprung into the air in alarm, and Stormfly darted off in some random direction. In the quick aftermath, Meatlog trotted over and retrieved her snack. Meanwhile, Snotlout hung off to the side, trying to look smart and important, while Hookfang jolted and followed Stormfly.

"Stormfly!" I called when my dragon strayed too close to the village for comfort. "C'mere, girl!"

She perked up and hopped over, chirping excitedly. Hookfang tipped his head and followed her back. Several nearby villagers tracked their every movement.

We were sitting on a cliff that overlooked the docks, where the figure of Toothless—and, by extension, Hiccup—could just barely be seen standing below. We were just close enough to the cliffside that no buildings were around, meaning that our little space worked as a "pocket" of seclusion right in the middle of Berk. Of course, the pocket very quickly filled up when you tried to cram a bunch of teenagers and dragons into it.

"Why do you even care?" Snotlout asked, peering down at the docks. "Everything will be fine once everyone gets back to normal. I mean, look, they're even doing that boring trading stuff Uncle Stoick used to make me do."

"You say that like 'normal' is possible," I sent back, holding a hand up to Stormfly. She rushed forward, eager to be petted.

"Or like it'll actually happen," Fishlegs added in a flat voice.

Snotlout shrugged. "Well, yeah! I mean, _obviously_ it won't be _exactly_ like before. But things can get better again, especially with Hiccup back."

Hookfang growled, eyes locked below. Stormfly stiffened and drew away from me, her tail held up straight.

"Well, that's not gonna happen like this," I said, glancing out at the docks. Nothing unusual. "Every day that nothing happens makes it worse. We can't keep tip-toeing around the Gronckle in the room."

"So what should we do then?" Ruffnut asked. "Make a 'sorry we almost killed you' card for Hiccup and his bestie?"

"Uh, _no_ ," Fishlegs said. "We could _start_ by learning more about dragon culture, then applying it to our own so that we don't have problems with misunderstandings. Then we can change some infrastructure so as to better accommodate dragons and prevent them accidentally breaking things. _Then_ we can—"

"Blah, blah, blah!" Snotlout groaned. "Who cares about that nerd stuff?"

"You will when it makes things better," Fishlegs shot back. Meatlug lumbered up to him and lifted her head, staring at Snotlout with narrowed eyes. "The old norm will never happen, Snotlout, and trying to force it actually makes everything worse."

"We're Vikings," Snotlout said, pounding a fist into his palm. "Forcing things is how we get stuff done. And last time I checked, it was the _dragons_ causing problems, not us. That's why if Hiccup makes everything normal, it'll all be fine."

"Actually, Vikings are causing most of the 'problems' by over-reacting," I snapped. "Like Dogsbreath."

A shrill scream echoed off the cliffside, silencing whatever Snotlout had to say. In an instant our dragons had scrambled to the edge, nearly knocking all of us over.

"Woah!" I cried, just barely rolling out of the way as Barf and Belch charged forward. "Hey, what's going on? Stormfly?"

My dragon didn't respond, baring her teeth and raising the poison barbs on her tail. My heart dropped to my stomach at the sight.

"Hookfang! _Hello!_ " Snotlout cried to his dragon. The Nightmare ignored him. The twins and Fishlegs were having the same luck as well.

"What's going on?!" I said to myself, shoving my way through the mass of legs and tails and wings and popping out right next to Stormfly. I wrapped my arms around her neck to keep my balance. She didn't even acknowledge me, too focused on what was going on below.

The docks looked…weird. We were too far up to really see anything, but I could see dragons and Vikings alike were all gathered in a thick crowd around Toothless. The Night Fury was standing tall and every single dragon was looking to him.

I squinted, and in a cold rush, I realized that the Chief was standing in front of him and Hiccup was on the ground.

Toothless settled into a crouch. The Chief turned and threw something off to the side, where it plunked into the ocean.

Toothless drew a wing up, hiding Hiccup from sight. Several moments passed. I could just barely make out Hiccup sitting up and waving. The dragons hesitated, but settled down nonetheless.

Hiccup seemed to talk to his father as dragons and Vikings stared. A few seconds later, the Chief angrily waved around, sending everyone off to their duties. Toothless nudged Hiccup onto his shoulders and then began to trot off, leaving the Chief behind.

 _What the hell?_ I thought.

"Aw, I was hoping for more blood," Tuffnut complained even as our dragons relaxed around us and crept away from the cliff.

"Let me help you with that!" Ruffnut said. There was a loud, distinct _THONK_ followed by some screaming.

Both Stormfly and I remained standing still, looking down at the docks. For a brief moment, Stormfly glanced over at me.

"Stormfly?" I asked.

The Nadder clicked her tongue and set her eyes on the docks again. She leaned far over the edge, keen on keeping her eyes below.

There was soft crumbling as the ground shifted—and then gave out right underneath her. She squawked and threw her wings open, fluttering back over and landing a safe distance from the cliff. The other dragons immediately began warbling and grunting at her, and she folded her wings tight against her sides and ducked her head. A moment passed, and she snapped her jaw out, grabbing me by my belt and dragging me away from the edge.

My heart pounded as I tried to collect myself, but it didn't take me as long as it used to. " _Nice_ , Stormfly," I teased, laughing with just a little bit of nervousness when she narrowed her eyes and butted my chest.

"Aw, she likes you!" Fishlegs piped up, grinning and holding his hands to his cheeks. "Although I'm pretty sure Meatlug likes me better."

Meatlug rolled her eyes. I pressed my lips together, taking in the way her scales were lacking in sheerness, not nearly as glossy and firm as Stormfly's were.

"Meatlug, what happened?" I asked.

The Gronckle snapped to attention, giving me a wide-eyed look. She paused and then threw her head with a grunt. Then she gave me an expectant look.

"I don't...get it," I stammered. Meatlug huffed.

"Not fair!" Snotlout said. "Hookfang doesn't understand me, so why should Meatlug understand _Fishlegs?_ Hookie's the better dragon, after all."

Meatlug, again, shot Snotlout a look with a loud snort. Hookfang glanced at her, turned, and slapped Snotlout upside the head with his tail.

"Aw, Meatlug, you're the best," Fishlegs cooed, hugging her head. She purred and leaned into him, even wagging her tail a little bit.

I guess…if Meatlug wasn't trying too hard to let us know, and Stormfly didn't seem concerned, that it wasn't too big of a deal. Still, it was chilling to see every dragon on the docks deadlocked on Hiccup and Toothless, like they were seconds from shooting fire everywhere.

"I'm gonna head back," I said. "If Hiccup, Toothless, and the Chief are headed up, I can probably catch up with them."

"I'm telling you, it's a total waste of time," Snotlout groaned, rubbing his face and shooting Hookfang a dirty look.

"You don't have to follow me," I said with a pointed look. I began to head towards Berk, patting Stormfly on her neck to get her attention as I went. "C'mon, Stormfly."

Stormfly squawked and fluttered her wings, falling into step besides me. We stepped around Hookfang's tail and Barf and Belch—who was currently tangling with the twins—and towards the road that led down to the docks.

"I'll come, too," Fishlegs volunteered, jogging over with Meatlug hot on his heels. "I'm curious to know what happened."

"Hey! Don't leave me out!" Ruffnut shouted, trying to get around her dragon but being intercepted each time. "Barf, _fine_ , lemme go!"

The Zippleback's heads looked at each other. They lifted a paw, allowing Ruffnut to pass, and sat up to reveal Tuffnut squashed underneath.

" _Freedom!_ " Tuffnut cried, scurrying to his feet. "Now, _revenge!_ "

Barf and Belch grabbed Tuffnut just as he lunged for his sister and pinned him to the ground, eyes half-lidded with clear annoyance. Ruffnut laughed, only to suddenly clam up when they turned their heads towards her.

"I'm being _perfectly_ nice," she said carefully, sidling away. "You just stay there and keep Tuffnut there. He's the one being bad, because I'm doing _nothin'_ wrong."

"I'm actually okay with that," Fishlegs said. Meatlug grunted.

"Alright, anyone else?" I said, although I couldn't keep a smile from my face. I actually felt a little sorry for Barf and Belch. "Snotlout?"

He huffed, crossing his arms and glancing up at Hookfang. His dragon was quick to step around him and trot over to Meatlug's right, giving a short head-bob to her.

"Um, totally," Snotlout said. "Hookfang and I already talked about it and decided to go. Right, Hookfang?"

Hookfang didn't respond, eyes trailing after some birds flying above. Meatlug nudged him, and he briefly looked down at her before looking up at the birds again.

"Alright," I said. " _Now_ we're leaving."

 **o.O.o**

It took about two minutes for something to happen. I was honestly surprised; the walk had started to get a little boring.

Dragons and Vikings had been busying themselves with their own work, the Vikings keeping an extra-careful eye on the dragons as they did so. I tried to appear calm and collected; after yesterday's incident with Dogsbreath, I'd noticed that people were already more on-edge around Stormfly than usual. Of course, she was blissfully unaware of this, and wouldn't hesitate to run around right in someone's striking range.

I spent a lot of time calling Stormfly to me, which she seemed happy to comply. Hopefully, the mere act of her being so obedient would be enough of a show that the villagers would calm down a bit around dragons.

"Stormfly, c'mere!" I shouted for the fourth time.

"Yeah, Stormfly, get with the program!" Tuffnut said with his "outside voice". My ears rang, and several dragons nearby flinched away.

"Tuffnut, be careful about doing that around Meatlug!" Fishlegs scolded, worrying over said Gronckle.

My dragon had wandered off the moment I'd looked away. She had somehow managed to get halfway down the street, so her sense of hearing was spared. She was busy nosing at a door while a villager stood stock-still besides it, hand resting on the hilt of their sword.

"Stormfly!" I said again, breaking into a light jog. The villager looked over, and I recognized her as a butcher. "Hey, don't worry, she's just curious!"

"Then get it away from my shop!" The butcher snapped. Stormfly poked her nose at her and she flapped her arm angrily.

I came to a stop in front of Stormfly and pulled at her head. "C'mon, Stormfly!" I grunted. She leaned backwards and away with a snort, digging her claws into the ground. I put all of my body weight into it, but all she had to do with lift her head to make me lose my grip. Unbalanced, I fell backwards and hit the ground.

"Stormfly, what's gotten into you?" I said, using my "commanding" tone of voice. Stormfly reared her head back, blinking and tipping her head to the side. I got to my feet and dusted myself off. " _Back_ , Stormfly," I ordered, holding my hands up and pushing her away. "Now."

Stormfly took a step away—and then stood up straight as a yowl cut through the air.

I followed her eye and whipped around just in time to see a little golden blur plummet into the ground and kick up a cloud of dust. Right at its heels were several baby dragons, each the size of a housecat. They all plopped unsteadily onto the street and shrieked and cried, scampering around the little dragon that had fallen.

Stormfly charged past me, nearly knocking me to the ground again. She was joined by Meatlug, Hookfang, and quite a few other adult dragons that had leapt from the rooftops to investigate. The baby dragons became lost in a crowd of wings and tails, and the adults began to squawk and grunt at each other. It sounded like a whole lot of nothing—not for the first time, it baffled me that Hiccup could take all of that in and actually _understand_ them, even if he didn't get a literal word-for-word translation.

"Astrid, what's happenin'? What're they doin'?" The butcher asked.

I shook my head. "I don't really know."

She pursed her lips and crossed her arms, flicking a lock of amber hair out of her eyes. "Yer the one who's been spendin' the most time with dragons. How do you not know?"

"I'm not a dragon expert," I said. "That would be Hiccup."

"What, like he cares about us?" She huffed. "All he does is spend his time with _them_ , even though they apparently 'made'him kill people _._ "She rolled her eyes to show just how much of that she believed. "Yer the one to go to when we got problems with these things."

Ugh, I _so_ did not want to be the de-facto leader again. "I'm really not," I said. "And that _did_ happen to Hiccup. I'm just nice to Stormfly, and that makes her a lot more tame—I mean, friendly. It's really that easy. If you tried it, maybe you'd make friends with a dragon, too."

She gave a hearty laugh. " _Friends_ with a dragon? Oh, that's certainly something!"

I frowned. With that kind of attitude, incidents like yesterday would never stop happening. "It is, though. If you'd just—"

A medium-sized Nightmare broke off from the group, sniffing at the air and eyes darting about. It locked in on us and lifted its head. A moment's hesitation, and it sprinted right towards us.

"Woah—hold on!" I shouted, holding my hands up. The Nightmare swung its head and shoved me aside. It sniffed at the butcher's door, and with one swing of its paw, the door was knocked right off its hinges.

" _Back!_ " The butcher commanded in fury, ripping an axe from her belt. The Nightmare had already begun to crawl indoors, and she twisted round and smacked its exposed neck with the blunt end.

The Nightmare gave a muffled yelp and scrambled backwards, pulling out of the butchery with a sizable piece of freshly-killed venison clamped in its jaw. It lifted its neck up to its full height and glared down at us, smoke curling out of its nostrils.

"You give that back!" The butcher said. She advanced on the dragon and it took several steps back, growling around the stolen meat and baring its teeth. Raising her axe, the butcher hissed, " _Down!_ Now! That's all I've left for days!"

The Nightmare, obviously, didn't listen to her.

I rushed between them, holding my hands up. "Now wait—let's try and figure this out—"

The villager broke into a sudden sprint, throwing her axe down right on top of one of the Nightmare's paws. The dragon flinched away, shrieking and dropping the meat. Yet just as the butcher stepped forward to catch it, the Nightmare twisted violently. I had a moment to duck—and its tail swept right over my head and into the butcher, flinging her away.

The Nightmare spared a moment to nurse its bleeding paw and then lowered its head over the stolen meat, baring its teeth and snarling.

"W-wait—" I tried, stepping in front of it and blocking the dazed villager from its view. "Easy, easy!"

The Nightmare met my eyes. It snapped its neck forward.

" _AGH!_ "

" _Astrid!_ "

The dragon clamped its teeth around my arm just tight enough to draw blood and flung me aside. I fell to the ground in a heap and clenched my teeth as my arm all but lit up in flames. There was a large bite mark spanning my entire forearm, each tooth having left a wound. Already bruises were blooming across my skin, and my shoulder _ached_ from having suddenly been thrown around. Through the pain and the cold, hammering rush of my heart, a small part of me noted that at least it hadn't taken off my arm completely.

The sun blinked out above me, drawing my out of my stupor. Stormfly lifted her wings and tail, rattled her spines, and bellowed for all that she was worth.

The Nightmare narrowed its eyes, lifting its head and body far above my dragon.

"Stormfly, _run!_ " I gasped.

Stormfly stood her ground, hissing and spitting. The Nightmare growled right back, opening its jaw wide to show teeth and gas. My Nadder all but howled, flapping her wings and stomping her feet.

With narrowed eyes, the Nightmare swung a paw and cuffed her over her head. Stormfly gave a surprised yip, spines standing on end—and then lowered her head with a low gurgle. The Nightmare didn't even bother to check if she was okay, stooping down and scooping up the venison in its jaws. With one last disdainful snort, it trotted over to the crowd of dragons. I glared furiously at the proud way it carried itself, head held high and tail swaying across the ground.

Stormfly seemed to feel the same, hissing at the thief as it went. Then she started with a squawk and turned to me, whining. She bent down and nosed at my arm.

It took a shameful amount of self-control to keep myself from smacking her away. "I-I'm okay, Stormfly," I soothed her, sitting up and glancing down at my arm. It still stung like hell and was now a creepy mismatch of deep purple and maroon, but the Nightmare hadn't bit deep nor dislocated my arm. It had almost stopped bleeding as well—it had clearly been some sort of warning bite, something to teach me a lesson.

Stormfly ran her tongue over my wounds with a soft, pitiful croon. I patted her forehead with my good arm.

"Thanks, girl," I said. "I appreciate you trying."

A quick glance around showed that many villagers were standing with drawn weapons, tense and ready to fight. The butcher had risen to her feet but, at this point, knew that it was pointless to try to retrieve her goods. She scowled at the dragons, hand clenching around her axe.

"Don't— _don't_ do anything!" I said in as commanding a voice as I could after I'd been thrown around like a ragdoll. "They'll just get more aggressive!"

Almost everyone looked over at me and—thank the gods—seemed to listen. Nobody made any moves towards the crowd of dragons, and that was good enough for me. This gave me enough time to fully take in my surroundings and wrack my brain for what to do.

The crowd of dragons still hadn't dispersed. Something was off about it, though. After a second's worth of searching, I realized: Meatlug was absent from the crowd.

I found her soon enough, standing in front of Fishlegs, Snotlout, and the twins with her wings extended and her head lowered. All of them were trying to dart around her towards me, but she intercepted each attempt with a lot more speed than to be expected from a Gronckle.

"Don't worry, I'm okay! It's just a little bruised!" I shouted over to my friends, waving at them for good measure. Meatlug glanced over her shoulder at me, and the four of them drooped in relief.

"Well hey, at least you get a cool battle scar outta it!" Ruffnut said, trying to lighten the situation. I cringed and met both Fishleg's and Snotlout's eyes. Both of them looked as stoked about that as I did.

"Well, there goes my plan to show that dragons will listen to us," I sighed. With a soft groan, I gathered my legs underneath me and got to my feet. Stormfly chirped anxiously at me, and I patted her nose. "Shh, it's okay, Stormfly."

Stormfly dropped her head, folding her wings. She gave a heavy sigh and pushed her forehead against my chest. I wrapped one arm around her and petted her with the other.

The dragons suddenly began to make a different set of sounds—they were almost alarmed. Several of them turned to face the same direction, only to drop their heads and bodies low, spreading their wings out wide. Between them, I could see a tiny Gronckle lying on its side, gasping for air and surrounded by its playmates.

The crowd of dragons split in two. Toothless trotted through them, eyes narrowed and head high. Hiccup was perched on his back, swaying with each step Toothless took and so pale that his skin nearly glowed white.

Both of them saw the baby dragon at the same time. Toothless' eyes widened and he jolted towards it, leaning down and nosing it. Hiccup slid unsteadily off of his companion's back and crouched on all fours besides the Gronckle. He reached out and pawed at its head, and then did a double-take at the venison.

His voice barely carried through the street despite it being deathly-silent. "Where…did this come from?"

I swallowed, hesitating. Then I stepped towards the dragons, trying to keep from staring at the Nightmare. I had to be calm and collected; if anything, my time dealing with dragons—Hiccup included—had shown me that reacting only based off of emotions just screws everything up. "A dragon stole it from the butchery," I said, trying to keep the anger and shock out of my voice. "The butcher tried to get it back, and…"

I brandished my bruised and bloodied arm for them to see. Hiccup reared back, mouth falling open. Toothless narrowed his eyes and sent a sharp snort towards the other dragons.

All of them lowered their heads and eyes. The Nightmare stepped closer, dragging its belly on the ground. I tensed as it got closer to me, shifting my weight so that I could spring in the opposite direction if needed.

Toothless seemed to give it quite the scolding, judging by the way that it sank closer to the dirt and whined. After several moment's worth of hissing, the Night Fury threw his head towards me.

The Nightmare backed away and lifted its eyes up to mine. It crooned for a few seconds, then twisted round and slithered away.

"What was that all about?" I asked, turning to Hiccup. His eyes were locked on my injury.

"I didn't…mean to…" He murmured.

I scrunched my brows together. "What?" I asked. Did he think that _he_ did this?

"I…" He shivered and clenched his eyes shut, holding his head in his hands. "It…it wasn't me."

"I…know," I said, completely confused. "Both of you just got here."

Hiccup shook his head, hunching over. Toothless rumbled, leaning into him, and he blinked a few times and sat up straighter. He looked down at the Gronckle and stammered, "R-right, just gotta focus…"

He continued to sit like a dragon, nudging the baby Gronckle. If I strained my ears, I could just barely hear him making low, rumbling sounds—something no human should be able to make. He even leaned down for a moment, almost like he trying to take in its scent, before pulling back with drooped shoulders. I couldn't hold back a shudder, so I disguised it by holding my arms to my chest like I'd been swept up in a sudden chill.

"So…" I trailed off. I was starting to get a little annoyed that he was ignoring me, but more than that, I was growing more worried by the second. Hiccup had always been one to space out, and from what little I'd seen of him since he was transformed back, that had only happened more often. This was different, though—it was like his mind was lost in a fog, his every action distant and delayed.

I took in his skinny frame, his pale skin, and the heavy, bruise-like bags under his eyes. Adrenaline rushed through me as it finally got through my stupid head:

There was something seriously wrong with him.

Hiccup clucked his tongue and looked up at me. His eyes were dull and tired. "She's exhausted," he said in that odd, quiet voice. "She needs some food." He reached out and grabbed the meat, dragging it towards the dragon. She didn't make any move towards it, and he hummed and lowered himself to nose at her. Toothless made a low crooning sound, crouching and sniffing at her just like Hiccup had done moments before.

"Wait," I said, miraculously drawing his attention. "That isn't yours—it was stolen."

Hiccup tipped his head a bit with a frown, but Toothless ignored me and continued to encourage the baby dragon to eat. She sat up on stumpy, shivering legs and began to pick at it, but didn't seem to have much of an appetite.

Another twang of annoyance went through me at their less-than-concerned response. "Hiccup, you of all people should know—" I cut myself off and shook my head, scolding myself for letting my anger get the better of me. That was a low blow. "Can you tell the dragons that they can't just take things when they want to?"

Hiccup stared through me, his eyes distant and his face worn.

"Did...did you hear me?" I said, forcing my voice to be low and calm.

He blinked a few times. "O-oh, right." He straightened up and looked around, like he had just noticed where he was. He jumped and he hunched over a little bit, undoubtedly taking in all of the well-armed villagers surrounding us.

Then Hiccup _growled_ , sounding so real and inhuman that if my eyes had been shut, I'd have thought it was Toothless. I stiffened, my mind flashing back to our conversation at the smithy.

If he did that here, surrounded by all these people…

"So, would you mind doing that?" I pressed, my heart leaping into action. Hiccup turned around to face me and even Toothless glanced up to listen. "You know, tell the dragons not to steal food? I get that the Gronckle is…tired…but it was really not cool how that Nightmare stole this and then attacked us for trying to get it back. Even Stormfly tried to help me out." I gestured behind me at my dragon, who was standing with her head and tail low.

Hiccup pressed his lips together in a flat line and shared a look with Toothless. Toothless grunted.

"No, we should," Hiccup murmured. His eyes flicked up towards me and then away guiltily. "Astrid, I—I'm really sorry that you got hurt. You shouldn't have to be the one throwing yourself in the middle of things."

"I _want_ to," I said. "And I will if that means moving forward." I held my arm up. "This isn't going to last forever."

Hiccup snapped his head and met my stare, eyes wide. Then he looked down at the stolen food and ill dragon. "I know," he breathed, resting his head in his hand and closing his eyes for a brief moment. He shook it off and then turned to Toothless expectantly.

The Night Fury twisted his head towards the other dragons and barked. An emerald-green Nadder broke from the crowd and gently took the Gronckle's scruff up in its teeth. It opened its wings and took off into the air, closely followed by the rest of the Gronckle's playmates.

By the time I'd looked back towards Hiccup, he was already on Toothless' back, slumped over like he'd ran for miles. Toothless nodded once at me, opened his wings, and leapt towards the roof of a house. He scrambled up onto it and then sprang towards one of the old torches we used during raids, clawing up to its top in just a few seconds. Even as dead-tired as he was, Hiccup didn't seem to have any problems holding on.

Toothless let loose a roar that made the insides of my ears vibrate. Every single dragon in sight rose up into the air to meet him. The street was deserted—save for the Vikings—in just a few seconds.

My brain caught up with this, and I whipped around towards Stormfly.

She averted her gaze, crouched low, and launched into the air.

I watched her go, hand clasped around my arm and smearing with blood.

 **o.O.o**

Hiccup

I tried to look awake and alert as Toothless addressed our nestmates, but my heart just wasn't in it. I had no clue what he was saying—only that he was repeating, again, that we all had to try and be as non-confrontational as possible. It would do nothing if the people of Berk didn't learn how to distinguish aggressive behavior from non-aggressive behavior. I mean, even a dragon trying to feed a sick hatchling had started a fight!

I thought of the wound Astrid had taken—a bruised, bloody bite that raked across her entire arm. She'd pretended that it was nothing, but I had been able to see the pain in her eyes. I had _recognized_ it, no matter how much I didn't want to.

My mind's eye flashed to a time that felt like an entire lifetime ago. Strangers cloaked in the choking smoke of war-fire, gas in my throat, the taste of blood, the feeling of flesh rending under my claws.

It was the stuff of my nightmares, but I wasn't even _asleep_ —I couldn't figure out why this kept on happening! The memories had chased me in my sleep for weeks now, plaguing me with guilt and exhaustion, and now they'd found a way to stalk me when I was awake, too.

 _It wasn't me!_ I cried at them, trying to throw off a phantom shadow that had latched onto my back and began snapping at my wings. _Leave me alone!_

I forced myself to take a deep breath. _Get ahold of yourself, Hiccup!_ _They're not real!_

Our nestmates all called out at once, showing their understanding of what Toothless had said. He dismissed them with a flick of his head.

I pressed my forehead against Toothless' neck and closed my eyes. I was so, so tired.

Toothless tried to purr comfortingly at me. He shifted underneath me and gave a short warning. I held on tighter, and he launched into the air and went straight into a glide. A small smile graced my lips at the feeling of the wind blowing past me, the lightness of being in the air.

Too soon, Toothless was forced to land. He went into a light jog, careful to keep from jostling me.

I had no clue how long we wandered. More than once I dozed off, only to come to for a few moments due to a sharper-than-normal bump or Toothless suddenly changing directions. At one point, I dimly noted that he had stopped moving altogether and that it was very quiet, but my brain was too numbed for it to register.

Eventually I opened my eyes. To my faint surprise, the sun was setting, painting everything in vibrant gold and amber. I was curled up on Toothless' back, and Toothless himself was sprawled on the ground, fast asleep. We were back in the forest again, something that brought with it relief from its familiarity. It had always been a place of seclusion for us—somewhere we could hide and be safe.

For awhile, I held perfectly still, trying not to move so that I wouldn't wake Toothless up. I knew that he would sometimes watch me at night, like he was worried that my heart would stop again. He needed his sleep, too.

With Toothless asleep and nothing to distract myself with, I was at the mercy of my thoughts. I was so _angry_ at myself for acting so stupidly, for freaking out over little things. Yet I couldn't stop myself from feeling bitter at Dad and the others, for the ways they had once treated us and the ways they still did. Not only that, but it was getting harder to feel safe around them, like they still saw me as a dangerous, wild dragon.

I could only do so much—and yet even _that_ wasn't good enough. Even Astrid had to step in for me.

I hadn't felt so down on myself since my first few months in the nest. Back then, I had been alone, struggling to fit in and never getting it right.

The Queen had been there, though. She had picked me as her favorite and treated me almost like her own child.

The thought sent a shudder of revulsion and guilt through me. I _couldn't_ acknowledge it—not without being reminded of everything I had done, all the people that I had…

 _Don't think about it_ , I told myself, not for the first time.

I clenched my hands into fists, wrinkling my nose and raising my lip at nothing. I just wanted everything to be normal. I just wanted to be able to go through my day without constantly being threatened and scared over little things. Nothing we were doing was working, and it made me want to scream in frustration at it all, at the gods that had let this happen, at the dead Queen for manifesting it, at my father for trying so hard to make things better, at myself for just making everything _worse!_

A small growl escaped me. Toothless' ear twitched and his eyes opened.

"S-sorry," I said, only becoming more upset at myself for waking him up.

" _It is fine_ ," Toothless soothed, twisting around to bump foreheads with me.

I reached up and held onto him like he had told me he was leaving, burrowing my head into his neck. Toothless pressed his head against my back in an odd hug, purring all the while.

"Toothless…" I began. Swallowing a lump in my throat, I said, "Do you really think that this will last?"

Toothless pulled away, brows low and eyes half-lidded. His ears and side-frills went a little limp.

" _No, Hiccup._ "

A cold claw clamped around my heart. I looked down. "That's what I figured," I whispered.

He lifted his broken tail up underneath my chin to force me to look at him. My eyes lingered on it for a few seconds.

With a reassuring smile, Toothless began pawing at the ground, ripping out chunks of grass within his reach and leaving nothing but dirt behind. I leaned against him and watched, half-wanting to ask him what he was doing. I couldn't find the energy to do it, and stayed quiet instead.

He must've sensed my confusion, because he glanced over his shoulder at me and hummed, " _Toothless drawing._ "

"Oh," I said, surprised. I sat up a bit, but still didn't want to hop off of the warmth and safety of his back just yet.

He began to scribble in the dirt with a clumsy paw, probably just about as bad as I was with a pencil and paper. " _Hiccup_ , _Toothless_ ," he said, scribbling some vague, circular objects in the ground. He began to draw a bunch of other circular objects around "us", and then patted the ground and gave a low, steady purr that rose up and down in pitch almost in an arc.

He was trying to teach me something. I craned my neck and squinted at the drawing. Well, it certainly wasn't "trees"—I already knew that one. "So…it's us…surrounded by something," I started.

" _Yes!_ " Toothless said. " _Hiccup_ , _Toothless_." He then went on and repeated the word he was trying to teach me again.

My head started to pound. "They're all…the same…?" I tried.

" _Yes._ " Toothless opened his wings wide and flapped them, and then pointed his nose at the sky.

I was completely lost. I couldn't figure it out.

"I don't know," I snapped.

Toothless reared his head back with a surprised yelp. "… _Hiccup?_ " He asked, aghast.

Anger swept through me, but not at him. I curled up, looking away and back towards the drawing. "I'm sorry, I'm just… _frustrated._ But I shouldn't be taking it out on you."

Toothless sighed and ran his tongue over me like he would a frightened nestmate. He thrummed in a soothing, comforting manner that made my eyelids droop.

" _This_ ," he said, pointing at the drawing of us surrounded by similar-looking things.

I stared down at it. Two circle-like objects that were us, surrounded by other circle-like objects.

A thought struck me. I shifted a bit, and the tightness in my chest relaxed a little. "…nest?" I asked. "Our nest?"

Toothless beamed, and a wave a lightness went through me. " _Yes!_ " He exclaimed. " _Nest!_ "

I pushed myself up so that I was more sitting on his back rather than laying on him. A real smile began to grow on my lips. Despite everything, learning to speak with Toothless made me feel almost…hopeful. I blinked, suddenly more alert and _here_.

" _This nest_ ," Toothless emphasized, placing his paw on the drawing. Then he moved it over to the right and began to draw a different set of objects. They were unnatural-looking, with sharp angles and rigid corners. He drew several of the rigid shapes, forming a group the same "size" as our nest. " _This nest, no Hiccup Toothless, this Hiccup Toothless nest_." He put his paw back towards ours.

"Uh, what?" I said. I forced myself through my sluggish thoughts, grasping at Toothless' words for purchase just as I had on the docks. "Wait...can you repeat that?"

Toothless grinned and wiggled a bit, just as caught up in speaking to me as I was. " _This Hiccup Toothless nest_ ," he said, pawing the circles. " _This nest._ " Then he put his paw on top of the angular shapes. "This _nest,_ " he repeated, emphasizing "this".

For a few seconds I turned his words over in my head. "Oh—so it's separate," I mused.

" _Yes. This nest, no Hiccup Toothless nest._ "

"It's a nest, but not ours." I tipped my head to the side. "Then who's is it? The nest that the fishing boats saw?"

Toothless shook his head and pointed the human way off in the distance.

"…Berk," I sighed.

Toothless nodded. " _B-e-r-k._ "

The sound for it was just about as much as I expected: something he almost growled, his tone flat and a little bit of hissing thrown in there. It was a sound that meant _be cautious_.

"How do you say 'us'?" I asked on sudden impulse, trying to keep the good mood rolling while it lasted.

My brother smiled, eyes half lidded. The word for "us" was pronounced with a short burst of warm, loving thrums.

Somehow, it made me feel a lot better, like I wasn't trapped and tied down anymore, giving me the freedom to move and breathe and think.

" _This us,_ " Toothless said, pointing. " _No this us, this Berk._ "

He dug his claw into the dirt and slashed a thick line between them, separating them. He then hissed at it like it was an eel.

"Bad?" I guessed.

" _Bad,_ " Toothless hissed. He gestured broadly at the drawing, and then said, " _This us. This us, Berk. Bad._ "

He then smoothed the slash over, erasing it just like I used to do when I would write as a Shadow-Blender. In its place, he put his claws near our nest and drew a horizontal line between "Us" and "Berk". He gave a short, happy purr.

" _This good._ "

I drooped. "I wish it was like that."

" _No us this,_ " Toothless agreed. He leaned in and pressed his head against mine. In a defiant tone, he patted the horizontal line several times and said, " _Yes this. Us this. Us good!_ "

In a flash, it all came together, neat as a completed puzzle.

 _We can fix things_ , is what Toothless was trying to say. _We may be broken now, but it is not the end. We can make things good again._

 _It can be okay._

I turned and threw my arms around him, burying my face into his warm scales. Toothless brought up a wing to wrap around my back and rested his head on mine, humming comfortingly.

"Thank you Toothless," I said, my voice cracking. I pulled away with an embarrassed grin, ducking my head. "I guess I just…I really needed to hear that." I studied my inarticulate hands, opening and closing them. "Nobody will even acknowledge that everything's messed up. I just…I'm so glad to hear that, and to hear that it can still be…better."

" _Yes_ ," Toothless said, eyes lit with determination. " _Us good._ Hiccup _good._ "

"But you're better," I teased. Toothless raised an eyebrow at me like I'd just told him a ridiculous joke. I snorted.

As carefully as I could, I set my foot and prosthetic on the ground and rose to my feet. I winced as a small spike of pain came from my missing leg; sitting around for long periods of time would make it act up every now and then. Toothless got up as well, stretching his legs and back as he went.

The tension between dragons and Vikings, Dad, the other nest…there was just so much. It was hard not to feel overwhelmed. We needed to...no, we needed to approach this one step at a time, not all at once.

"I…think I might know where to start," I said slowly.

" _Good_ ," Toothless said, relieved. " _No Toothless!_ "

"I don't know, you've kinda been on some sort of wisdom streak," I said, pawing at him. He snickered and swatted his tail at me.

For the first time this day, I laughed. It was small and timid, but it was something. Toothless smiled as big as he could and nudged me.

"Alright," I said. "Let's practice. Can you quiz me on some words again?"


	4. Chapter 4

**Hello, everyone!**

 **Another early update! Woohoo!**

 **As always, I want to thank xSkiesofblue11, TheFuriousNightFury, vampireharry the 2, T-thenightfury, Ashora, Cyeithen, OseanSoldier, MisstyX0007, Varghul, Elt-1080, Dragonboy111, NomexGlove, DevoutRelic, Lightwavers, Timmichangas, FMAlover32, RedLightningD608, Zeklyn, Brenne, CrisDLZ, and Crysist for all of your thoughtful reviews. I really appreciate your support and critiques! Lastly, I'd like to thank my betas, Crysist and GoldenGriffiness!**

 **Comments and critiques are appreciated, as always! I hope you all enjoy, and have a nice day!**

* * *

 **Chapter 4**

Hiccup

" _Hiccup,_ why?" Toothless moaned.

It was early—so early that my blind, lame eyes could barely make out the road just a few feet in front of me. The sky was just beginning to light up off to the east and a brisk wind rushed through the village.

I shuddered and clutched my arms in as cold waves of anxiety burst from my chest. On instinct, I rolled my shoulders. But I no longer had wings to draw in for warmth, and I was left exposed. "Because we have to."

" _No_ us!" He snapped, frustrated. I jolted at the sudden, angry tone, and immediately Toothless lowered his head and tail, crooning, " _Sorry, sorry, sorry_ …"

"It's alright," I said, turning to him and putting a paw on his neck. Toothless lifted his head, and I pulled him closer in a hug. My racing heart calmed some at his closeness, and I noticed him relaxing as well. "I know it's a stupid, crazy idea…but with you here, not too much can go wrong, right?"

" _Yes_!" Toothless protested. " _Me nervous. Human no friend, no ally. Why help, why danger?_ "

Despite wanting to climb onto the safety of his back, I stepped away and turned back down the desolate road. We walked at such a slow pace that Toothless had to stop and wait every few seconds. "I know it's stupid," I said again, after pausing to try and collect my racing thoughts. "And I know it probably won't work. But we have to start somewhere, don't we?"

Toothless frowned, his eyes wide and concerned. I stared into them and tugged at the empty shell of my magic.

The burn of its emptiness was still fresh and raw.

" _No want,_ " Toothless said. He huffed, glaring down the pitch-black road like it was hiding something. " _Hiccup certain?_ "

"No," I admitted, feeling the nervousness and nausea I had come to love creep back and leave me almost lightheaded. "I'm…a little scared, to be honest. But I'm tired of feeling like we're just at the mercy of everyone else. Like we just have to sit around and wait for things to _happen_ to us."

Toothless turned to me with a surprised look. He spoke in dragon, forgetting for a moment that I couldn't understand. Then he shook his head, leaned in, and pressed briefly against my side with a comforting purr. " _No us. Human. No us._ "

"What do you mean?" I said after spending a few seconds failing to figure it out.

" _That no Hiccup_ ," Toothless said. " _Human fight, human danger._ "

"I don't…" I slumped, holding myself even tighter. We passed by some taller buildings, and the darkness closed in. "I still don't get it. I'm sorry, Toothless."

" _It is fine_ ," he hummed, nudging me with his nose. " _Need word._ "

"You can say that again," I sighed. I straightened and looked around to get a sense of our location. All at once the dimness and the lack of clarity sprung up at me. My ears felt muffled and numb, and I swiveled my head around in a sore attempt at picking up sounds from our surroundings. It took me a moment, but even with my dulled, useless senses, I could still recognize where we were.

My heart pounded in my chest, loud enough for me to count each beat. I swallowed. "We're here."

" _What?!_ " Toothless gasped. He squared his feet and his teeth glinted in the darkness as he unsheathed them. " _Certain?_ "

I nodded. "Y-yeah."

Toothless wrapped a wing around me. " _Hiccup ready?"_ He pressed in a gentle, sympathetic tone.

I leaned into him for a moment. "With you, I am."

We spared a moment—both of us tense and nervous and not really wanting to be here—and then pressed on.

This was the right place, I knew; we'd actually spent the last few days spying until we were sure. There was still that lingering doubt that I was making a mistake, that I was throwing us into danger, that I was wrong _again…_

I lifted a shaking paw, slowly clenched it into a fist, and knocked on the door.

A muffled voice deep inside the house shouted a complaint. We waited in silence, standing somewhat awkwardly and almost hoping that whoever had spoken would ignore us. Then Toothless perked up and let out a low growl. It was the only warning I had.

The door yanked open, and I fought the urge to turn and leap into the sky. My limbs locked up as I met his eyes.

"H-hi, Dogsbreath."

The light pooling from his house shrouded him, casting his face in almost complete darkness. I could just barely make out his features as he wrinkled his nose and hissed with venom, " _You._ "

In the corner of my eye, Toothless lowered his head and bared his teeth. I didn't let myself look away, no matter how much I wanted to.

"We don't want to cause trouble," I began, struggling to keep my voice from shaking as my chest tightened and my mouth went dry. "We're here to—"

"To gloat?" Dogsbreath growled. "To rub salt in the wound, now that ya know ya have the Chief's protection?"

I shook my head. "No, we're here to…to talk." I said the last part lamely, realizing just as the words left my mouth how _stupid_ they sounded.

Dogsbreath snorted. "I'm not apologizin'. Ya don't _deserve_ one, and despite that, I was still the one punished for protectin' family." His voice became low and menacing. "If it weren't fer them, I'd kill ya where ya stand, banishment be damned."

His eyes held that promise in them that I had once seen in my own father's eyes: that certainty that all he needed was an opening, a moment of weakness, so that he could strike and put an end to it all. A cold, nauseating gale of dread rushed through me. I blinked rapidly, fighting to keep calm.

Toothless leaned into me. It was enough purchase to haul myself back into the present. Still, even though I'd rehearsed this conversation in my head so many times, all of the sudden my "preparations" were thrown completely off-kilter.

"We don't want to fight," I said after a short, tense silence.

"Oh, don't ya?" Dogsbreath laughed with a sneer. "That perfectly explains how you two called yer entire nest on the Chief a few days back, don't it? Is that why yer really here? To make an example outta that?"

I grimaced, sharing a guilty look with Toothless. "N-no, of course not. We—"

"Then I don't see why yer here, wastin' my time and keepin' me from fulfillin' my punishment." Dogsbreath stepped out of his house and shut his door, and I stumbled out of his way. He pointed in the general direction of the docks. "If ya don't remember, I've been put on hard labor duties from sunrise to sundown for quite some time because of _you_."

" _No us_ ," Toothless snarled, his voice dripping with hatred. " _You!_ "

I couldn't help but feel frustrated as well, even as my head spun and my heart hammered. I squared my shoulders and looked directly into Dogsbreath's eyes. "You were the one to attack us, Dogsbreath."

For a horrible moment, Dogsbreath looked like he was ready to lunge at us right then and there. His hand rested at his hip, but he was unarmed—which really only made his clear desire to attack us all the more intimidating. He settled for saying nothing, glowering with a malice-filled intensity that I had not seen from a human in a long time.

"We want to keep that from happening again," I said again in a calming tone—more for myself and Toothless than him, honestly. Holding my hands out, I said, "Everyone's so wound up that everything's starting to boil over."

"Just like what happened to that girl Astrid, yes?" Dogsbreath said pointedly.

I grimaced, lowering my head. "Yes, just like with Astrid," I ground out as guilt, again, crashed through me. "But just _telling_ everyone to be nice to each other doesn't work. Dad could hold all the meetings he wants, and we could talk to our nestmates all day long, but it will never do anything." I straightened up again and reached out to Toothless, leaning into him.

"That's why we're here. We have to work to make things better."

"And ya picked me first," Dogsbreath said. "I'm _real_ touched."

Toothless wrinkled his nose and caught my eye, throwing his head. He was ready to give up on this, having never thought it was a good idea in the first place.

But I _needed_ it to work. I needed to know that I could still do _something_ , that I wasn't a total screw-up. I needed to know that I wasn't completely useless all over again.

Because if I couldn't even fix a relatively small problem like Dogsbreath, then how could I hope to make things better with my father or the rest of the village?

"What else can we do?" I asked in a last, desperate grab at making this work. Dogsbreath's eyebrows kicked up in surprise. "What can we do to make things better?"

"How about you get rid of the dragons."

" _No_ ," Toothless and I both said, shaking our heads.

Dogsbreath regarded us both with that wide-eyed looked that crossed the faces of humans when a dragon responded to their words. Then he shook it off, growing spiteful again. "Ya know, even though you stayed away from Berk, ya seem to expect us to forget what you were," he said, trapping me in place with his eyes.

My heart plummeted. _No, not this, not this…_

"We know what kind of terror you were, the unholy and bloodthirsty way ya two took down village after village. Even now we're struggling to find trade as they recover, and our fishin' nets are comin' up more and more empty with each trip."

 _It wasn't me! I didn't mean to!_

"I was on the ships during the battle. I saw that monster with my own eyes. I saw the way you turned its own forces against it in a matter of seconds." He narrowed his eyes. "So how can I possibly know ya won't do the same to us, the next time something doesn't go yer way? If you could turn on yer so-called 'Queen' dragon so easily, then how quickly would you do the same to us?"

I stood statue-still, halfway there and halfway not, unfocused and overwhelmed and furiousat myself for freezing on the spot. "It wasn't…it wasn't me," I breathed as my emotions clashed against each other, leaving me dazed.

"Yes, it was. Or am I mad?" Dogsbreath pursed his lips, looking over me with scrutiny. Toothless growled low in his chest, leaning into me and reminding me that I was not alone.

After a moment to collect myself, I stammered out, "Y-you're right. It was me, in body, but in my mind…it was the Queen. She could control other dragons, and I didn't even know what she was doing. I didn't—I would _never_...I promise you, it wasn't _really_ me. And…" I sighed, hanging my head. "I think about it every day and night. I haven't forgotten, and I haven't forgiven myself either."

Toothless whipped towards me with a small whine. I knew that look; it was the "we are definitely talking about this later" look. Oh, great.

Dogsbreath at first paused, only to give a wry chuckle. "At least ya got a healthy dose of shame in ya, I'll hand ya that. But my point still stands, no matter what you or yer father and Gobber say."

I looked up at him, meeting his scornful eyes for a long moment. I wanted nothing more than to leave, to go back to the safety and seclusion of the forest or to the warmth and comfort of our nestmates.

That meant giving up.

I was so tired of running away and leaving these festering wounds exposed to start fight after fight, filling every day with worried anticipation of the next blow. It was just too much. I couldn't take it anymore, feeling useless and vulnerable all the time, unable to look forward to or even _imagine_ a future.

And so, in blind stubbornness, I actually pushed back when normally I would have rolled over and sullenly accepted yet another loss.

"I understand," I murmured. "I understand why it's hard for all of you, because it's just as bad for us." Raising my voice to appear more confident, "I don't know how to prove to you what the Queen did. I don't know how to show you that we won't turn on you. Not when dragons are being attacked by Vikings, too. But I'm trying, and that's all that I can do. We wouldn't be here if we didn't want to start making things better. For all we knew, you would try to kill us the moment you saw us, but we still came here to try to fix things."

Dogsbreath had alarmingly good poker face when he wanted one. I struggled to read his expression as the sun began to rise.

"I'm a simple warrior," he said. "Nothin' more, nothin' less. I know only what I see, because that's all that matters. What I see is my home filled with dragons that do what they want, when they want. What I see is a Night Fury and a dragon-boy who was once a Viking, who both have the power to turn them on us any moment, and who are afraid of us."

His expression softened into a heavy frown. "I am not the person to ask how to bring peace between Vikings and dragons. I don't know why ya came to me instead of yer father, who is the man ya _should_ be talkin' to. But I also give credit when credit is due. You say you are tryin', and I can see that. But I cannot do what yer askin' of me. The dragons are breakin' and stealin' what they want, and if ya haven't noticed, _they_ don't hesitate to attack Vikings, too. I will not stand by for the sake of keepin' peace."

" _Human no listen_ ," Toothless griped in frustration.

He meant it as a complaint—his version of giving up and saying, "This human is _still_ not listening to us!"

I didn't catch that right away, though.

The word for "human" and "dragon", I had discovered over the past couple days, sounded almost exactly the same. When Toothless had taught me those words, I had found it ironic and almost fitting how close they were.

They were so similar that, in my tired and stressed-out state, I misheard Toothless. So while he had meant to say _humans_ were not listening, I misinterpreted him as saying _dragons_ were not listening.

"Nobody is listening to each other," I murmured to myself, looking down at my hands. Toothless tipped his head to the side, confused.

"Now, that's enough," Dogsbreath said, pulling me out of my thoughts. "You've done what ya came here fer. I can't spare any more time talkin' to you." He gave me one last stern, suspicious look. "You've given me somethin' to think about, so I'll return the favor. What yer doin' is not good enough, even though yer right that just talkin' don't fix anythin'. It's up to you to find out what does. Yer time with dragons has made ya forget that we Vikings have only ever known how to fight dragons."

Not knowing what more I could say, I hesitated and then nodded. This seemed to satisfy Dogsbreath, and he turned towards the sunrise and began to head down to the docks.

Toothless and I pressed close to each other, watching him go in silence. My heart still hammered in my chest and my thoughts lingered on the past, on my struggles and fears. The only thing distracting me from it was the pure _surprise_ rushing through me.

Despite wanting anything else, I had truly expected to be attacked or yelled at or chased away. I would have never thought that _Dogsbreath_ of all people to take a moment to consider what I was saying. To be honest, I had come into this braced for a loss and merely hoping for the opposite.

The shock of this tiny success was so unexpected that I wanted to turn to Toothless and ask him if I had actually been there for the conversation. We had changed his mind, even if only a little bit. He had even told us he would think over what I'd said.

 _Does this mean…I really_ can _make things better?_ The thought was almost foreign after exhaustion and loss and frustration had become my new norm.

Mulling this over, I turned towards the shadow-shrouded west, staring out at the soft hills that lead towards my house—and my father.

"And, Hiccup!" Dogsbreath suddenly called from much further down the street, making both of us jump and whip back towards him. "If ya really want ta prove that yer not against us, ya need to stop spendin' all of yer time hidin' among the dragons."

He didn't wait for a response, spinning back around and heading away. In just a few seconds he turned a corner and disappeared. We were left alone in the cool, drowsy street as the sun peaked high enough to cast light over the buildings, finally allowing me to see.

 **o.O.o**

Toothless

Well. I suppose…that could have gone…worse?

To be quite honest, it was almost pitiful how both Hiccup and I considered our conversation with the human "Dog's-Breath" a victory rather than a failure. Really, he had been quite uncooperative and had only yielded ever-so-slightly. We could only take what we could get, though, and it seemed to fill Hiccup with some much-needed confidence. So I wasn't going to complain…as much.

"Stupid human," I groused to Hiccup as we wandered through the dark pathways of the human nest. "Why do they refuse to listen when we explain the Queen's magic? How many times do you have to repeat yourself for them to understand? Then they have the audacity to act _surprised_ that we don't spend time with them! Where is the logic?"

"Come again?" Hiccup asked, although I could tell by his expression that he had a fairly good idea of what I was complaining about.

" _Ugh!_ " I said.

With a small smile, Hiccup paused and butted heads with me. "Hey, at least we got _something_ out of it."

"Yes, and that reminds me." I spun towards him and narrowed my eyes, already having decided on giving him one hell of a lecture even if he only understood a small percentage of it.

In return, Hiccup quickly adopted his "uh oh" expression. He tried to steer the conversation away, "So, Toothless, I was thinking—"

" _No_ ," I cut him off. " _Hiccup speak—_ here. _No Queen. Hiccup sad? Why? Why no speak?_ "

Hiccup's good mood vanished. He seemed to age in an instant, his face lined with weariness, and I nearly lost my resolve right then and there. Averting his eyes, he said, "It's not that big a deal, Toothless."

" _This? No it is fine—bad. It is bad._ "

He took a moment to translate the new use of the terminology. Then, with a small sigh, he slowed to a stop and stared far, far past the nest.

"…I don't know," he said at last. "There's so many things going on, I'm just trying to focus on not drowning in all of it."

He stopped then. My mind flashed back to that horrible time when we'd escaped the cove and taken shelter within the forest, to when Hiccup had reached his ultimate low, even going so far as to allude to…

The memory was too dark for me to bear, filling my heart with ice. I poked him to get him to speak, and when he ducked his head and eyes submissively, I poked him harder.

"Later, Toothless." A hint of irritation crept into his voice. "Besides, it's not something I really want to talk about in the middle of the street. People are gonna be waking up soon."

As if to prove this, a wood-cave swung open right beside us, flinging against the exterior with a loud _BANG_. Both Hiccup and I nearly leapt out of our scales. The human, similarly, stopped right where they stood and gaped at us.

"…Good morning?" Hiccup said after several seconds' worth of staring.

The human threw a paw out, grabbed the part of the wood-cave that moved, and swung it shut.

" _Oh, good!_ " I commented, layering as much sarcasm into the words as I could. "Honestly, where are their manners?"

This brought a smile back to Hiccup's face, which was good enough for me. "Maybe they aren't a morning person," he said. He bit his lip and then faced me. "I'm sorry for snapping at you just now, Toothless."

" _No, no! It is—_ "

"No, it isn't. You're right." He deflated a bit. "All of you are. You, Dad, Astrid…and now even Dogsbreath. We're just…hiding from our problems, because they're hard to deal with. And I mean the _real_ problems, not little things like whether or not someone likes us."

"Hatchling-steps, Hiccup," I reminded him, forcing my voice to be gentle and reassuring. " _Need wait. Wait good._ "

He frowned, eyes filled with guilt. "But not all the time. I think we've done too much waiting."

" _No_ ," I disagreed as firmly as I could. I wanted to shake sense into him, to tell him that these things take time, that he shouldn't feel bad that he wasn't instantly better like his father so desperately wanted him to be. We had yet to build the vocabulary for a conversation of that depth, however, which resulted in my argument being composed of a not-so-convincing word rather than a speech.

Instead of responding, Hiccup paused in the middle of a crossing of pathways and headed down the one to our left. It led to the smoke-cave that Hiccup stillhad to "work" at. We were _supposed_ to be there already, but honestly, who cared? Besides Hiccup's father, that is.

We walked a few meters, and then Hiccup drew to a sudden stop, back straight and face taut. He hummed in indecision, wringing his paws together.

" _Hiccup?_ " I asked. " _Okay?_ "

"Yeah," he said, lost in thought. "I just…"

He stared off into nothingness for a few more seconds, spun around, and trekked back up to the crossroads. I followed with no small amount of confusion, but certainly wasn't about to complain about us abandoning our "job" at the smoke-cave.

At the center of the paths, Hiccup stopped once more. He looked between where we'd just gone and the path to the west with clear reluctance. The westward path itself was empty and still covered in shadows, the low sunlight not having quite reached it.

Realization had just clicked in my head when Hiccup took a first wobbly step towards it, followed by another. He was tense, eyes slightly narrowed, head lowered, and teeth almost bared. He continued west anyways. I pressed up against his side and tried to appear calm, but couldn't keep my wings from opening and my tail from whipping about.

We walked together in the company of early-morning birdsong without need of words. It was almost like we were hatchlings playing a hiding game, like if we were quiet long enough, then we could scrape by our problems unnoticed. Admittedly, I would have liked to have more warning about _this_ so that I could brace myself—but our lives were full of surprises, and unpleasant ones at that. Hiccup seemed to be on a much-welcomed "confidence streak" as well, and I wasn't about to go and send that up in flames.

Especially when, admittedly, the _wrong_ path—the very thing Hiccup was wrongfully beating himself up over—was the more preferable choice in the short-term.

That being said, I certainly hadn't forgotten our conversation that had been cut off. The sheer amountof guilt weighing Hiccup down was becoming more and more noticeable by the day, and it _terrified_ me. He was lucky to get a few hours of sleep each night, often awakening covered in sweat and fear-scent. He wasn't gaining any more weight and he always seemed to be cold. He had no appetite, often going an entire day before remembering that he hadn't eaten anything.

And then there was the obvious problem: the panic attacks. The sudden and unforgiving memories that descended on him, dragging him by his tail through his past.

He needed to talk. He needed to let it out, or he would never begin to recover. But he thought that doing so was burdensome to others, and _still_ avoided the subject like his life depended on it. He was just like when we had escaped the cove in the peak of his depression, and the implications of that comparison sent a shudder down my spine.

"Dragoness of the Moon, Toothless, what's with the scary face?"

I jumped, snapping out of my thoughts. " _What?_ "

Hiccup gave an unsteady smile and pressed closer with his odd little "human-version" purr. "You looked really freaked out. I'm the one who does that, remember? Heh…this is where you laugh, by the way."

I didn't. Shaking my head, I admitted, " _Me worried._ Very _worried._ " Turning to him, I met his eyes. " _Worried you._ "

Hiccup looked away. "…I'm sorry."

I had to keep myself from sighing, from showing the frustration on my face. " _It is fine,_ " I said, taking a new angle. " _Hiccup speak? Please?_ "

He dipped his shoulders and held his arms like he always did when he was uncomfortable. Again, my resolve wavered, but I didn't want to give up this time. Sometimes, a little tough love was necessary. I wasn't above sitting on him with my so-called "fat behind" to get him to finally start talking—especially now. Not when we were _so_ close. Dragon of the Sun, he was even _admitting_ now that we had to address this, when a few days ago he would have denied it!

"I guess…" Hiccup started.

I leaned in and focused on him as much as I could, ears and side-frills fully extended and showing in every way that I was listening and _wanted_ to listen.

"Hey, Hiccup! Wait up!"

 _Gods damn it!_ I growled to myself, looking around my shoulder as Hiccup straightened and swung around.

Astrid was running towards us from Berk, the Two-Walker Stormfly keeping easy pace behind her. They both came to a stop in front of us, and Stormfly immediately dropped into a deep bow.

"Good morning, my Kings!" She chirped. "We've been looking for you for ages! I think."

 _And your timing is terrible_ , I wanted to snap at her. "We're very busy," I said, flicking my head. "So if you don't mind…"

Stormfly tipped her head. "Don't mind what?"

Her human interrupted her. "Gobber's been looking around for you—apparently being a little late is the end of the world." She rolled her eyes. "Stormfly and I were out and he pulled me over and yelled at me to go find you again."

"Alright," Hiccup said distractedly, eyes locked on her arm. It was quite an impressive wound, scaling up and down her entire limb. "How is that?" He pointed with his nose.

It took Astrid a moment to figure out where he was gesturing. She not-so-discreetly hid her arm by holding her paws behind her back, exposing her stomach. "It's no big deal, Hiccup. Don't worry about it. I'm serious—don't give me that look."

He certainly _did_ look worried about it. "I'm sorry, Astrid," Hiccup said, eyelids and shoulders drooping. "You shouldn't have to stand in for us, and you shouldn't have to hunt me down to get an apology out of me."

Astrid's eyes flickered over to mine, bright with confusion and concern. "But you _did_ apologize, Hiccup—right away. Don't you remember?"

Judging by his expression, he didn't.

"And besides," she started to move closer, but stopped herself and kept her distance. "Like I said before, I _want_ to help. Both of us do."

Hiccup and I shared a look. I personally wanted to distance myself from this human as much as possible—I could only take so much over-compensation before I got annoyed with her continuous attempts to make things "right" with us. Yet she was likely our _only_ human ally that truly sided with us when it mattered, and for that, I was grudgingly grateful.

Which meant that we probably shouldn't just brush her off, no matter how much I wanted to for the sake of some much-needed privacy.

" _Human help?_ " I whispered.

Hiccup frowned and nodded. To Astrid, he said uncertainly, "I was actually thinking…do you mind helping us with something?"

Her face lit up. She nodded enthusiastically with a huge smile. "Of course!" In an instant, she composed herself, all business. "It has to do with the other day, right? I heard what happened on the docks, but there's a lot of different stories going around. What was that all about?"

Well, she certainly didn't beat around the bush. Her straightforwardness was almost foreign after weeks of humans tip-toeing around us. Hiccup seemed just as taken aback by it at me, blinking at her in surprise.

"It was…another incident," he said after a moment's hesitation, holding his arms. Slumping over, he went on, "It was my fault. I just…" He gestured vaguely and shrugged. I leaned into him and purred.

Astrid let him trail off without further explanation. "I'm sorry that happened," she said, eyebrows drawn together in concern. "For what it's worth, I don't blame you. For everything, I mean. But I really do think it's good that you're spending more time in Berk, even at the forge."

This actually drew a small smile from Hiccup. "…Thanks. Uh, anyways, the thing I was going to ask you about actually has to do with…that," he nodded at her arm, which was still hidden out of sight. "I think the root of it is that nobody is listening. Humans aren't listening to me and Toothless, and our nestmates aren't listening to you guys."

Astrid nodded, eyes focused. "I think you're right—about one thing. I've been thinking a lot about it, especially after that incident with the Nightmare. What's really going on is that everyone is acting like there are two tribes living on the same island: the Viking tribe and the dragon tribe. And what you just said kinda proves how people are thinking like that."

Well, she wasn't wrong. There _were_ two nests on the island.

"That's…a different way of looking at it," Hiccup said, a little surprised. He cast a guilty look my way. "And I guess we aren't making it much better."

Astrid nodded. "It's a big shift, and most people are too stubborn to change. Do you have any ideas of what to do?"

Hiccup looked at me. I blinked and shrugged.

"Maybe…" Hiccup shifted on his feet. "All I know is what we _need_ to do is show that it's possible, if everyone just tried."

"Not gonna happen," Astrid said. "I've been telling people to try to make friends with dragons for a while now. Usually they think I'm joking."

"Of course they do," I said. "Humans don't particularly like to listen to reason."

"What? What's going on?" Stormfly cried with fluttering wings. "I wanna be in the loop!"

Hiccup glanced at me and then back at Astrid. "Yeah, just talking doesn't work. At least, not most of the time."

"When _does_ it work?" Astrid asked, throwing an annoyed look to the heavens.

With a nervous chuckle, Hiccup said, "Well, actually, Toothless and I just spoke to Dogsbreath a little while ago…"

It took her a moment to process that. "You talked to _Dogsbreath?_ " She hissed like it had to be a secret. "Why? Does the Chief know? Do you have a death wish or something?"

"Well, it worked," Hiccup said, although he looked like he didn't really believe it. "Sort of. He told us we 'gave him something to think about'."

"And he didn't try to kill us," I added. Stormfly, again, looked between all of us with immense confusion.

"I'm just glad you got out of there in one piece." Astrid looked genuinely impressed, and I allowed a proud smirk to slide on my face. She thought for a second, then added, "You know, Hiccup, that might be what's missing: you."

It was Hiccup's turn to be taken off-guard. "Uh, you're kidding, right?"

"Not at all. People keep looking to me for advice—but look what good I do." She pulled her arm from around her back and displayed it, showing us the mottled bruises running up and down it like dragon scales. "You're the only one who _really_ knows what's going on. Maybe…" She bit her lip. "I know it's a lot to ask, and I know you have every reason not to…but it might actually work if you just spend more time in the village. And not on the roofs with the dragons or in the forge, but, you know…around _us_. They're your people, too."

Hiccup seemed to expect this, only giving a small, worried frown. "I don't know, Astrid." He shrugged and shook his head, eyes flicking away. "Every time we set foot in Berk, something bad happens."

Astrid met his gaze evenly, but with an almost pitied expression that immediately aggravated me. "So we have to do something about it, then. It's all because of what you said: humans and dragons aren't listening to each other, and we're all acting like we're on opposite sides. You're the bridge between them, Hiccup."

Hiccup reared his head back a little. He shot an uncertain glance towards the human nest.

Astrid's eyes softened, and in a much less pressing tone, she added, "Stormfly and I will stick around you guys if you don't feel safe." She reached out to touch his arm, only to stop and pull her arm back. "Sorry, I forgot."

"N-no, it's fine," Hiccup said, pawing at the air. He hesitated, his eyes lingering on Astrid's arm—and then he reached out even as he began leaning his body away, almost like he was afraid she would claw him but still wanted to poke the bear anyways.

Astrid froze at first, eyebrows shooting up. Recollecting herself, she extended her paw, letting it hang invitingly in the air.

Hiccup was struggling with it as much as I would, inching his paw closer only to recoil in short little jerks. His eyes were wide, but his jaw set with determination. For a few moments, everything was quiet save for the bright birdsong and hum of summer insects.

Then, as gently as if he were shifting eggs, he put his paw in Astrid's.

She wrapping her claws around his paw with a small smile. Hiccup nervously returned it and focused, eventually getting his own to do the same, if somewhat awkwardly.

"See?" Astrid murmured, like if she spoke too loud then Hiccup would frighten away. "Not so bad, right?"

Neither of them moved. Then, scales alarmingly pink, Hiccup let go and held his paws close to his heart while taking not-so-subtle steps closer to me. He ducked his head and gave Astrid a shy look from underneath his fur, trying and failing to hide a grin. "F-for you," he mumbled.

It occurred to me that this was the first time that Hiccup had ever initiated contact with a Viking by his own choice. I _suppose_ that meant I wouldn't tease him. For now.

Oh, why not?

" _Oooh, Hiccup_ like?" I crooned, poking him several times.

Hiccup turned an even brighter shade of pink. "U-uh, _anyways_ , we, uh, we gotta go, Astrid, so, um…"

"Are you looking for the Chief?" She asked. When Hiccup cringed and nodded, she turned and pointed back the way we'd come. "He was down in the village last time I checked. He was actually talking to Gobber before I was sent out to look for you."

I wanted to groan; both because she had _waited_ to tell us that, and because that meant that we still had to seek the King out and have a _wonderful_ conversation with him.

"Oh, great," Hiccup mumbled. "Well, I guess that saves us a trip."

Astrid took in our less-than-enthused reactions with obvious sympathy—none of which was wanted or needed. "Well, want to head back down?"

" _No_ ," I sighed.

"We should," Hiccup said in the same tone.

Stormfly looked between all of us, tail flicking in annoyance and head tipped to the side. "Wait, what?"

 **o.O.o**

Upon returning to the smoke-cave, it immediately became apparent that the King wasn't there. Or "Gobber". Or anyone.

"Weird," Astrid said, poking her head in. "They were _just_ here. Although I did see a lot of people going down this road on my way up to your house."

Hiccup gave me a nervous look, which I returned. Normally we'd both be more than happy at this news, but now that we actually _needed_ to speak with the King, it just prolonged the anxiety of having to speak with someone we didn't necessarily want to. Not to mention it was extremely odd that Hiccup's "mentor" wasn't here—I'd even begun to wonder if he lived in the smoke-cave, he was there so often.

Glancing up at the top of the wood-caves, I noticed a posse of Little-Biters lounging on the top of the smoke-cave to absorb the warmth coming from it. "Hello," I called, and all of them bolted upright. "Do you know where the King of humans is?"

All of them scrambled to their feet and glided down—save for one. He was the one-winged Little-Biter, and so was forced to carefully step down from outcropping to outcropping. By the time all of his friends had bowed before Hiccup and me, he had just plopped to the ground and scampered over.

"But you're the King, aren't you?" He asked Hiccup, who had sat down to get closer to them. Behind him, Astrid was peeking around his shoulder while also trying to pretend she wasn't paying attention. Stormfly took the opportunity to slip into the smoke-cave to explore and hopefully set things on fire.

" _Hiccup human King?_ " I translated. The Little-Biters all blinked up at me with huge eyes, heads tilting this way and that.

"What, me?" Hiccup gave a small chuckle, shaking his head.

"Why are you two talking in different languages?" The one-winged Little-Biter blurted. He stood up and toddled over to Hiccup, leaping brazenly onto his legs and peering up at him with huge eyes. "It's not even the same one, and I can't understand either of them!"

"It's for easy translating," I explained. "Hic—the King can't understand us in his human form, remember?"

With drooping wings, the Little-Biters nodded—a few more sheepishly than others.

"I've found a way to speak in a humanlike way for him," I continued. To a perplexed Hiccup, I said, " _Us speak, dragon confused._ "

He nodded and hunched down to bump heads with the Little-Biter. "I can imagine. I do think I caught a few words, though."

" _Yes?_ " I yelped. Hiccup shrugged with a small smile, and I pressed my forehead to his, purring, " _Good good good!_ "

I pulled away, and the one-winged Little-Biter glanced between us. "It's so strange…I feel like I can almost understand you," he twisted to face Hiccup, "but not you. And wait, why aren't _you_ the human King? Why _wouldn't_ you be? You're always so good at things!"

"Yeah, even if you can't talk!" A small, orange Little-Biter piped up.

"With all respect, my King, I think that you should see an elder medicine-dragon for that," mused a blue-green one, about the age of a young adult. "I can't imagine it's easy, but you seem to be very cool about it. You're very inspirational, especially because you're in that form!"

The eldest of them, a yellow Little-Biter a little gray around his muzzle, gave a small gasp and bowed deeply to both Hiccup and myself. "My Kings, I deeply apologize for my kin!" He shot them a narrow-eyed look, and all of them pressed their bellies to the ground submissively and clamped their beaks shut. "They are too young to understand the complexity of this situation."

"I understand," I said with a sad smile, wishing that Hiccup could understand how much faith they had in him—the gods knew he needed that hammered into his head. To him, I said, " _Dragon like Hiccup_. _Them speak Hiccup good human King_. _Confused, why no human King?_ "

Hiccup grinned, but it was stiff. "I don't see why it's such a shocker—it's not like I'm the first pick for the job."

He turned to the Little-Biters and bobbed his head. Then he paused, looking uncertain for a moment. He purred in a controlled, steady fashion, rising up and down in pitch and altering the frequency of vibration. It was so unexpected that I tipped my head all the way aside without the slightest clue of what he was attempting.

It was only when Hiccup took in all of our confused reactions and looked away in embarrassment that I realized what he was trying, and how _close_ to success he had been.

" _Hiccup speak!_ " I exclaimed, jumping in place in a little dance before composing myself. "Ahem. _Thank you, yes?_ "

Hiccup brightened up right away, sitting up straighter. "Y-yeah! Did you understand me?"

I was the one to look a little embarrassed this time. "Ah, _no. Need…_ " I trailed off, not having the word, and instead made my "go on" head gesture at him.

"Need practice?" He asked.

" _Yes,_ " I said. Drawing the word out and keeping my tone neutral, I said, " _Practice._ "

All of the Little-Biters were looking between us like they were following fish darting through a lake. Eventually, the yellow one mustered up the courage to interrupt, "Is there something you would like us to do, my Kings?"

I shook my head. "No, but thank you. We should probably move on, anyways." I sniffed the ground and wrinkled my nose at the King's familiar scent: metal and ash and too close to Hiccup's scent for comfort. He really _had_ been here awhile ago, but the scent was a little stale—it had been at least half an hour.

To Hiccup, I pointed my nose at the ground and said, " _Smell King. Us go?_ "

He clearly would rather spend the rest of the day here with the Little-Biters, but nodded anyways with downcast eyes. "Yeah. Better to do it before I lose my nerve." He shifted around to sit up, and the Little-Biter stepped off of him. After he'd stood up, he bobbed his head at them.

I did the same and dismissed them, "Thank you for all of your help."

The Little-Biters each called out a goodbye and bowed one more time. Then they all took off, scampering across the ground to accommodate for the one-winged Little-Biter's disability.

An odd nostalgia crept up on me as HIccup and I stood there alone. We had lost this, these little moments with our nestmates. Our nestmates had had much less apprehension adapting to life around humans than we had, and as such, we had inadvertently avoided them along with the humans. In a sudden pang, I realized that I had _missed_ them, the closeness and familiarity and family that they provided.

And they had missed us, too.

With a sigh, I flicked my tail and turned to Hiccup. This was just another problem that we needed to fix—but for now, we had to focus on the matter at wing.

I jumped at the sight of Astrid standing right next to him, eyes alight with that same determined look she used to give us back in the cove. She'd always narrowed her eyes like that when she'd made a decision and was certain that she would stick to it.

It was a look that only meant one thing: questions. And quite a bit of them.

 _Oh, no._

 **o.O.o**

Astrid babbled the whole time how amazing it was that Hiccup could understand me, not quite grasping just how much work there still needed to be done. Hiccup spent much time stammering short answers for her, still uncomfortable despite his previous efforts to get accustomed to her presence. At least Astrid was smart enough not to press him for answers, and did not attempt to touch him—which was much more than what the King could do.

I followed the King's scent as we walked, tracing a path through Berk that slowly grew more and more familiar. Yet the deeper we went into the nest, the more noticeable it was that there were hardly any humans around. What would have brought me comfort only brought more anxiety; where were the damn humans hiding?

It wasn't until the King's scent took us to the edge of the nest that we saw the reason why.

I growled down at the docks, opening my wings and flicking my tail. Without taking my eyes off of them, I nudged Hiccup's shoulder. He climbed onto my back without any further prompting, which helped ease my worries a little bit.

It seemed like every human on the island was down there, all of them swarming a single floating-tree. It was indistinguishable from the other floating-trees, but if there were that many humans on it, it couldn't be good. I also took quick notice that very few of our nestmates were on the docks; many were sitting on the cliffsides or on top of wood-caves, peering down uneasily and sending quick glances at Hiccup and me.

I forced myself to look calm in hopes that it would have the same effect on our watching nestmates. All it would take was one more incident, and Hiccup and I would quickly find ourselves wing-deep in trouble.

"Oh, wow!" Astrid said, delighted. "It's Trader Johann! I'll bet he's got a lot of news on what's going on with the other tribes."

"Maybe we should try later," Hiccup said, apprehensive. "I can't even see Dad down there."

I could. He was speaking with a human on the floating-tree, "Gobber" at his right. " _Toothless see King_ ," I said. " _No like this._ "

"Me neither," Hiccup mumbled.

"What?" Both Astrid and Stormfly asked. The irony of it was almost humorous; both of them asking the same question, confused by the same thing, without even realizing it.

Hiccup shifted a bit. "I think we should wait until there's less of a crowd."

"So you want to wait until there's nearly nobody there?" Astrid asked. When Hiccup didn't reply, she said, "I think it might be good to go down there now. Most people haven't seen you since a few days ago, with everything that happened down there. It might be good to show them that you guys aren't a threat."

I sent her a glare, to which she looked guilty away.

A flicker of movement caught my eye. I snapped my head towards it and squinted, craning my neck. Something very small and colorful was moving around the floating-trees, so close to the humans that I had not seen it right away. Humming, I leaned forward and opened my wings a bit.

"Toothless?" Hiccup asked.

" _See…_ " I trailed off.

Adrenaline burst through my chest.

" _Fledgling!_ "

A ridiculously-long session of charades had resulted in Hiccup learning this word—and also that the fledglings, apparently, spent their time at the docks. We had been meaning to give them a firm talking-to, but had been caught up with other problems, like devising a plan to soothe the tensions between us and the humans.

Suddenly I regretted our inaction. We were Kings, too. Yet we had neglected the safety of our own nestmates by getting too caught up in other circumstances.

In response to my warning, Hiccup stiffened with a low growl. I opened my wings as my brother braced himself, tightening his claws around my shoulder blades and making himself small against my back.

Astrid had only just cried out in alarm when I launched myself off the cliff, tucked my wings in, and let us fall.

The insides-out feeling of freefall was glorious and sweet, like taking a drink of fresh water after hours of flying over an endless sea. The wind, sharp and crisp, raced past us and roared in our ears. It brought with it a kind of bright excitement that I had come to mourn, and all too quickly the docks sprung up to meet us.

I snapped my wings and base-fins out and pulled my body up, and immediately the air transformed into a tangible thing, no longer soft and inviting but rushing against me with such a strong force that my wingtips and shoulders began to burn. I made sure to keep my tail in-line with my body and my remaining tailtip-fin closed, all in an effort to keep the air speeding under me even. That meant sacrificing a significant amount of maneuverability; my body rocked back and forth with the different air currents coming off the ocean and bouncing off of the cliffside, and it was all I could do not to teeter over and send us both plummeting into the crashing ocean below.

With quite a bit of force and praying, we made it to the docks—barely. It was more like an accelerated, controlled crash rather than a landing, and we missed falling straight into the ocean by a single winglength. My feet landed unevenly, forcing me to dig my claws in and skid several meters before we came to a gut-lurching stop.

The humans ceased their activities. The wind blew, the gulls called, and the ocean sprayed against the cliffsides.

In the empty silence, Hiccup let out an overjoyed, breathless laugh. Gasping for air, I looked over my shoulder at him with wide eyes.

It had been a long time since I'd heard that.

"We should do that more often," Hiccup panted with a playful tug at my ear.

" _Yes?_ " I said with a grin.

Still chuckling a bit, I turned around to face the area I had last seen the fledglings—and was met with the dumbfounded stares of at least three dozen humans. The fledglings were perched on the floating-trees and hovering just at the humans' heads, and quickly darted out of view once they'd seen that I'd found them.

"Fledglings!" I said sharply, lifting my head and putting on my "Kingly voice". I didn't call again, and instead looked expectantly into the crowd as the silence stretched on and on.

One by one, the fledglings crept out from beneath the feet of the humans, heads and bellies low but a mischievous light in their eyes. Eventually, a group of about ten or so had made their way out of the crowd and stood before Hiccup and me. Quite a few were clutching something in their teeth or claws. I narrowed my eyes.

"Where did you find those?" I asked, eyeing the objects. Some were completely random and seemed to have no functional purpose, and some were things I recognized, like paper.

They all looked at each other, seeing who would fib first.

For a moment, I was tempted to let them get away with it, just out of spite. The memory of Astrid's wound sprang to my mind, along with the very real and dangerous anger the humans had expressed that day. Humans were _extraordinarily_ possessive of their things, and I had a feeling that the fledglings had just given us a good opportunity.

"Leave those here, and return to the rest of our nestmates," I said.

"B-but _Kings!_ " A young Two-Head whined. "It took so _long_ to get these!" She held up something made of dead furs that was very aesthetically unpleasing to the eye.

A Flame-Skin the size of a Little-Biter piped up, "And some humans _gave_ them to us! This isn't fair!" He snorted and his scales smoldered with embers.

"You're not my mother!" A Two-Walker noticed.

I grinned. "You'll understand when you're older."

Every single one of them let out the same over-exaggerated moan and fell dramatically onto the deck. They had likely heard that very sentence every day, just as I had when I was their age. Hiccup jumped in surprise, snickered, and then tried to hide it behind a cough.

Without any proper counter-argument, each fledgling set their object down and sulked away, occasionally peeking at me to see if I noticed them trying to give me the cold shoulder. They waited until the last one had reluctantly set down her paper, and then all of them fluttered into the air towards Berk.

"Crisis averted!" I said, puffing my chest up. "Now, let's just leave…"

"Hiccup! There you are!"

"…or have some more family bonding." I dropped my head and wings and then slowly turned back towards the humans.

The crowd had parted for the King, who took in the stolen objects with confusion. He met my eyes and then looked slightly above me at Hiccup. "Did you come here to help with this?" He asked, gesturing at the objects.

"Sure, why not?" I said, nodding once.

Hiccup wasn't as skilled of a liar, shrinking closer to me. "Um…sort of…?"

The King gave a strained smile. "Well, thank you. Those dragons were starting to go for things of actual value." He stooped down to pick up the objects, then took a few steps closer—but he noticeably kept his distance. "I've been looking for you since early this morning—I received a messenger pigeon from Trader Johann about his arrival. He's just anchored and started to get his supplies out, and then those little dragons swooped in."

Hiccup was very still. "Yeah…we're, uh, sorry about that. They're just fledglings." He paused, and in a tense voice, he asked, "Dad, could we…could we talk to you?"

The King's eyes widened, and for a moment his mouth moved up and down. "Of course." Lowering his voice a little, he said, "I've been wanting to speak with you as well, Hiccup. I figured a few days to cool down would do some good. Let me just finish some arrangements with Trader Johann, and we can leave."

Hiccup must have nodded, because he turned back towards the crowd. At precisely the same moment, an odd-looking human with a unique scent stumbled forward, nearly tripped, and then straightened up while brushing himself off. He whipped his head around until his eyes settled on the King.

"There they are!" He laughed, grabbing the objects from the King. "Here I was, thinking the dragons took 'em away forever! And I have you two to thank, yes?" He directed the question at me and Hiccup. Without waiting for a response, he went on merrily, "Well, I must say, that was quite the entrance! I'm very pleased to formally meet you two—well I've met you, Hiccup, but not this majestic beauty of the skies here!" He walked right up to me and crouched down to my eye level. "It's true that this dragon can understand our language, is it not?"

"Majestic beauty of the skies"? Well, that was...new. Maybe this human was actually worth talking to.

After making sure to send a smirk at Hiccup—to which he rolled his eyes at—I turned to the human and gave him a nod. Now my curiosity was piqued; who was this stranger, and why was he so... _nice_ to us?

"Wonderful!" The human cried. "Then you'll surely be of help with the problem I've been seeing in the north! Well there's been lots of problems in the north—I've lost quite a bit of trade up there recently, actually. I say, those islands up there certainly are stingy when it comes to my wares...there's quite a large amassment of people, and yet they turn their noses up to my fine boutique!"

"Trader Johann, perhaps we should speak in _private_ ," the King warned him, sending an obvious look to the crowd around us.

I frowned as I took in the King's tense posture and hard eyes. What was the problem? This human was running his mouth, yes, but other than that...

"No, no!" The human said, flapping a paw and dropping some of his "precious" objects in the process. He focused back on me. "I need to speak with the dragon!"

Hiccup gave a soft sigh. I twisted my neck to look at him. His eyes were half-lidded and his shoulders drooped, eyes fixed on his paws—his human paws. He noticed me looking and shook it off, pretending to look "normal" and doing a poor job of it.

"Trader Johann," the King tried once more.

The human scooted even closer to me, eager and brazen and arrogant, his eyes alight and his body nearly bouncing with excitement.

He was _far_ too close for comfort, so close I could smell his breath. My stomach turned, and Hiccup shrunk away.

"Tell me, dragon," the human said. "What is to be done about the raids in the north?"

There was a fragile moment where nobody said anything.

Raids.

I had no words. Was she…was the Queen still alive?

"…raids?" Hiccup whispered, horrified.

The human snapped his head up to look at Hiccup. "And look at you! Once a dragon, now riding one, and without a saddle at that! Although I see you didn't come out of it unscathed," he mused, looking at my left side where Hiccup's fake leg was. With quite a bit of peppiness, he exclaimed, "Well look at the bright side—at least you're back to normal!"

I was so caught up in my own stunned confusion that it took me several moments to process what the human had said.

All of it came together—and just like that, he was no longer worth talking to.

I bristled, baring my teeth. How dare this human say such brash and cruel things, and to _Kings?_ Stretched tensions or not, I would not stand by and allow this complete stranger to blow fire at the suffering Hiccup and I had endured, as if it were something trivial enough to be gossiped about.

Hiccup's claws tightened around my neck, and I turned around and did a double-take at the glare he was searing into the human. His teeth were bared, his nose and forehead wrinkled and casting shadows across his face, his eyes narrowed to slits.

Despite his human body, he certainly _looked_ like one pissed-off Shadow-Blender.

With visible effort, Hiccup forced himself to calm down, now with a noticeable amount of guilt. I didn't bother holding back, turning back to the startled human with as nasty a look as I could manage.

The King interrupted before any more words could be said. He grabbed the human by his arm and growled, "We will speak in _private._ Understood?"

The stranger flicked his eyes between us and the King and then nodded several times. "O-of course, I'll just place these back on my ship—"

" _Now._ " Without waiting for a reply, he spun around and marched back towards Berk. The human followed him, cringing. Another human broke off from the crowd to come along—Hiccup's mentor, "Gobber".

Hiccup and I shadowed the three of them without saying a word, and the human crowd began talking among themselves. It was not the usual kind of muttering we had grown accustomed to, but something worse, something that made me want to take off and flee into the safety of the forest. It was dark and somber, filled with the underlying panic of waiting for an expected attack. In just one instant, the news of raids had changed their entire outlook on the dragons that lived here on Berk.

They were, truly and deeply, afraid.

Afraid of us.

 **o.O.o**

Hiccup

 _Keep it together. Keep it together._

Shadows buzzed through my head. My phantom tail thrashed as invisible wings lifted in preparation of flight. Taking a deep breath, I pressed my forehead against the back of Toothless' head and focused on him to re-center myself.

The trek up to Berk was horribly silent, just like the Queen's flares used to be. Even Gobber was uncharacteristically quiet. Halfway up, we passed Astrid and Stormfly, whom had been making their way down after we'd ditched them on the clifftop.

Astrid met my gaze, eyes huge and concerned. I shook my head at her. She did not follow.

I almost wanted her to ignore me and come with us anyways, especially after all she had done to help. Yet there was still that lurking uncertainty, there was still that axe that she kept at her hip, there was still that wound that made my head cloud with unwelcome memories... and there was still that open and inviting hand that grasped onto mine and remarkably did not bring pain.

It was better that she stayed behind. Dealing with Dad was confusing enough on a good day.

Dad stomped into the first open building he saw—Town Hall. Trader Johann chatted away, apologizing and changing the subject and trying to assuage us all at once. Toothless hesitated at the open door and dark room, but then padded in with a small shudder. I purred to him, and he relaxed a little.

Once we were all inside and the door was shut, Dad stopped and faced Trader Johann. "Raids? In the north?"

Trader Johann gave a nervous laugh. "Well, yes, sort of."

"Sorta'?" Gobber repeated. "The dragons attacked or they didn't. Which is it?"

"Well, it's quite extraordinary!" Johann said. "I haven't been lucky enough to document one myself, but across the northern islands there _have_ been reports of raids. _Huge_ groups of dragons flying overhead for up to an hour on end!"

" _Confused_ ," Toothless murmured. " _Nest no fight? No enemy?_ "

"So…they _weren't_ raids?" I asked for him, brows scrunching together. "They weren't attacking?"

"That's the odd part!" Trader Johann said. "I've heard of cases where sometimes they _do_ descend on villages, but they don't steal anything. They just knock things over and set fire to the buildings—causing quite a bit of damage, I might add—and then either leave or get chased off." He looked to Toothless and asked, "Can you explain this, dragon?"

The words were like a knife to my heart. I took a deep breath, scolding myself for getting so defensive.

Toothless made a big show of not acknowledging him, somehow even more upset about what Trader Johann had said than I was. Trader Johann waited patiently, as eager as a little kid on the eve of Snoggletog.

"What else can you tell us about these raids?" Dad asked. "Where exactly are they? For how long have they been happening? Have there been any injuries, or stealing?"

The traveling merchant reached to his belt and produced some paper, unraveling it to reveal a well-drawn map of the archipelago. Berk was in the southeast, and I could pinpoint exactly where the Queen's nest had been north of it—although it was still not marked on the map, still hidden away and shrouded in shadows.

"I first heard reports here," he pointed to an island far northwest of Berk. "And by traveling south and compiling witness reports, I've discovered something quite strange. Each island south of here has reported their raids at different times. The more south, the later each raid. The range is also much broader as the raids travel south, affecting more and more islands. So while this one was relatively unscathed when I stopped by," he pointed at an island directly west of the first one, "all of _these_ islands had reported dragon raids within roughly the same time period about a week later." He traced a long line of islands about a day's worth of sailing south from the first affected island.

"And the injuries?" Dad asked. "Were they as bad as they used to be?"

He didn't look at me, but I still shrunk against Toothless anyways.

"Well, from what I've heard, it's been pretty typical," Trader Johann said. "If you attack a dragon, it'll attack you right back. But I'm sure you already know that! However, I've yet to hear of any catastrophic damage like in the past year, and there's been almost no reports of stealing."

Dad and Gobber shared a look. I tightened my grip on Toothless.

They were organized, moving from a set point and fanning out as they went. They weren't going out of their way to steal or attack people, apparently.

" _Why?_ " Toothless said, fluttering his wings—he was unnerved.

For the first time, Dad turned to me. He hesitated, and then asked, "Hiccup? Do you…know anything?"

I met his uncertain, nervous gaze, and forced myself from looking away out of guilt. "No," I said. "I've never heard of something like it. Even the Queen didn't do that. She just…sent us to random islands."

Dad didn't look too happy with that answer, but nodded anyways. "Then…we shouldn't jump to conclusions. Right?"

To his left, Gobber's eyebrows shot up.

I tilted my head a little to the side. Then, awkwardly, "R-right."

"Well, actually…" Trader Johann grimaced when everyone turned back to him. He'd brought out another piece of paper and was wringing it in his hands nervously. "There's a… _sliiight_ problem. You see, well, this is only what I've heard, _especially_ from all of those northerners gathered up there, and it's by no means _my_ opinion, but—"

"Get on with it!" Gobber snapped.

Trader Johann faced me. "Many tribes think that the dragon raids have something to do with you."

I felt the color drain from my face. Toothless' breath hitched.

"But I'm not—we're not even _there_ ," I said. "We can't fly anymore!"

"Well, it does make sense considering nobody knows you've been cured," Trader Johann said with a casual shrug.

Ice plunged into my heart. I barely contained a small growl from rising in my throat and struggled to push my anger aside, only becoming all the more upset at myself for getting so irrationally upset _again_. Toothless, on the other hand, hissed a long curse at him.

Trader Johann grimaced. "Ah, m-my apologies! In my own defense, I myself didn't even know you were on Berk until you two made your grand entrance! But yes, the people who _did_ believe the rumors of your transformation still think you're flying around with 'em."

I didn't trust myself to speak, so all I did was shake my head. I sent my father a wide-eyed look. Both Dad and Gobber were strikingly pale, but still kept their composure far better than I was.

"And that?" Dad asked, pointing. "A message from a tribe?"

"Yes—the Bog Burglars, I do believe. _They_ didn't trade much with me, either." Trader Johann handed it to Dad, and then peeked at the paper as my father unraveled it. "I actually am fairly uncertain of what its contents are—I'm snoopy, but not that snoopy!" He laughed and then fell silent when nobody else joined in with him.

I almost didn't want to say anything, but still managed to ask, "What—what's it say?"

Dad handed the note to Gobber. After a few seconds, Gobber scoffed and crumpled the paper in his hands. "Empty threats based on empty lies," Dad said. "Don't worry, Hiccup."

" _What?_ " Toothless hissed, whipping his tail and fluttering his wings. " _Human nest danger? Need speak!_ "

"Are they planning on attacking us?" I translated.

Dad shared a look with Gobber, who gave a helpless shrug. He sighed. "You have enough weighing down on your mind already, Hiccup. As it is now, there's nothing to worry about based on one note."

I slumped backwards. If they weren't a problem, he would have just told me. "So they threatened us."

Toothless grumbled something that I didn't understand, throwing his head.

Dad studied me, conflicted. Gobber let out a huge sigh.

"I mean, he's goin' to find out _eventually_ ," he said. "Everyone is, no thanks to _you_." He squared a look at Trader Johann.

"Ehehehe," Trader Johann laughed unsteadily. "Ah, don't hurt the messenger?"

Dad spared a moment to shoot him a look and then faced us. "The Bog Burglars are another tribe a day or so's travels northwest of here," he first said to Toothless. To me, "They came to us for aid when you were…being controlled." He paused a second, looking uncertain of if he should elaborate.

Still, he went on, "…At the time, they blamed you and threatened us, but nothing came of it. They are doing the same now: they are experiencing unusual dragon raids and blaming you and Berk for them. They have written that we should 'clean up the mess we started'."

My heart dropped into my stomach. That was a blatant threat.

"Bah!" Gobber spat on the ground. "A load of Gronckle dung, that is. What do they expect, that we march up to the dragons and tell 'em to stop doin' that?"

"I don't know," Dad said. "But we must discuss this at the council. Most of Berk has probably heard by now, and I'm certain that this news will only cause more fights."

"Aye," Gobber said. Without any further prompting, he turned and hobbled off towards the upper room of Town Hall where the bell was.

With nothing more to say, a heavy silence loomed over us. My mind whirled like I was caught in a storm, my wings filling with unpredictable and sharp winds sending me sailing to and fro.

Organized dragon raids, moving from north to south, sometimes flying overhead and sometimes descending onto islands. They were traveling through the archipelago relatively fast— _too_ fast—and Berk was directly in their path. It wasn't a matter of "if", but "when".

At this rate, we would never fix things on Berk in time. People would still be afraid of dragons, and dragons would still be afraid of people. There was a chance that many of our nestmates would die, struck down by villagers assuming that they were participating in the raids. And once that happened—once that first dragon fell…

What were we going to do when they reached us?

 _RING! RING! RING! RING!_

I twisted around to face the opening doors of Town Hall, which was already filling with confused and frightened villagers. As I did so, my eyes caught sight of Toothless' tail—and the empty space where his tailfin used to be. My stomach clenched.

If the dragons only flew overhead, they would never see us or hear us shouting at them from below and we would never find out what they were doing. In battle, we would be sitting ducks, grounded and slow and wide open to rains of fire.

Somehow, I felt even less safe than I normally did.

What _could_ we do, when we couldn't fly?


	5. Chapter 5

**Hello everyone!**

 **This is most likely the last of the weekly updates; we will resume bi-weekly updates after this.**

 **I'd like to thank** **Samateus-Taal, Zeklyn, flopy, Timmichangas, TheFuriousNightFury, Lightwavers, vampireharry the 2, RedLightningD608, xSkiesOfBlue11, Brenne, CrisDLZ, Kasharo, MisstyX0007, Anonymous Noob the 2nd, Elt-1080, Varghul, Crysist, and all anonymous guests for all of your thoughtful reviews! I'd also like to thank my betas, Crysist and GoldenGriffiness, for all of your hard work on this chapter!**

 **Comments and critiques are welcome, as always! I hope you enjoy, and have a nice day!**

* * *

 **Chapter 5**

Astrid

"Stay here, Stormfly."

Stormfly tipped her head to the side. I held my hands up and tried to back into the open door of Town Hall, and she chirped and began to follow me.

"No, Stormfly. Stay!" I tried again.

The crowd was parting around us. Many people inside the building were watching us with suspicious eyes. I risked a glance in and saw the Chief, Trader Johann, and Hiccup and Toothless all standing near the front of the round table. The giant dragon statue attached to the ceiling hovered over them, like it had been diving to attack them and frozen at the last second.

Stormfly leaned over and twisted her head, peering into Town Hall. She blinked and then stomped her foot and squawked at me.

"You have to stay here," I said, trying and failing to push her backwards. "You can't go inside. Stay, Stormfly!"

Stormfly rumbled and fluttered her wings, not moving back but also not moving forward. I put my hands on my hips and narrowed my eyes up at her, and she returned the look without a second of hesitation.

I hadn't heard what had happened until after the Chief, Hiccup, and Toothless had returned to Berk. Once they had gone, a strange sort of anxiety had erupted among the docks. People were scared, talking about weapons and dragons and other tribes. It was only when the bell had begun ringing and the villagers began swarming up towards Town Hall that I had managed to pull someone aside and get a story out of them.

If there was any time that Stormfly needed to be away from a crowd of Vikings, then this was it.

Especially considering that people were yelling.

I looked up and readied myself. Stormfly perked up too, raising her neck and turning around.

At that very same moment, a Monstrous Nightmare popped its head over the crowd, spotted us, and began making a beeline for us. The crowd scrambled out of his way—and suddenly the shouting made a lot more sense. I grabbed my arm on impulse even as I realized that I recognized him.

As Stormfly and Hookfang greeted each other, I turned around and raised an eyebrow at Snotlout. He was wheezing from the effort of chasing after his dragon, bending over on his knees and shaking from the effort.

"Why did you bring him here?" I asked. "Not exactly the best time."

"Funny you'd say that!" Snotlout gasped out, pointing at Stormfly. "Besides, Hookie and I are like _,_ uh, a power team." He straightened up and added casually, "And also, he kinda won't stop following me around."

"I know that feeling," I said, glancing at my own dragon. "Stormfly wants to follow me inside for some reason, but I really think that's a bad idea."

"You gotta show her who's boss!" Snotlout said. "Step aside, and your old friend Snotlout'll show you how it's done." He made an over-dramatic show of cracking his neck and rolling his shoulders. Then he turned towards our dragons, who were currently prancing around in a circle and snipping at each other. "HOOKFANG! GET OVER HERE!"

Hookfang nearly jumped his full height into the air, landed in a perfect arch, and whipped his neck around to look at Snotlout. Stormfly bristled, flicking her eyes between me and her friend. She squawked, and Hookfang snapped back to attention and went right back to playfighting with her.

"I can really tell you're the boss," I said, crossing my arms. A small, selfish part of me was relieved that I wasn't the only one having problems with my dragon. A much bigger part of me was extremely worried.

Snotlout huffed and waved his hand. "Well, yeah, you gotta let them _think_ that they're the boss. _Obviously._ "

"Obviously. Anyways, back to the point—you do know what's going on, right?"

"Not really!" Snotlout cried, throwing his arms up in irritation. "I was getting some much-needed beauty rest when the bell started ringing, and when I went outside, everyone was already here!"

I guess that explained why he wasn't throwing a fit about the situation. "Trader Johann docked this morning," I explained. "Apparently there's, uh, raids. In the north."

Snotlout froze, his eyes bugging out and his skin paling. "But…Hiccup said that the raids would stop after we killed that Queen dragon."

I shrugged, fighting off my own doubts about the situation. I would never think Hiccup was lying…but he could just be plain _wrong._ "We'll find out more information soon enough—that's why everyone's here. Right now, I'm just trying to get inside without Stormfly following me."

"Y-yeah, I bet Hookfang'll try to follow me in, too," Snotlout said, his voice lacking the bravado from before.

Our dragons were bobbing their heads and darting around each other, flaring wings and spines and chirping. Neither of them were paying much attention to us or the dwindling crowd inching around them.

Snotlout and I glanced at each other. A second passed, and we shot off into Town Hall, darting in and out of their sight as fast as we could. There were no loud shrieks of complaint, so hopefully that meant Stormfly and Hookfang hadn't noticed.

"Do you know where the others are?" Snotlout asked as we shoved our way towards the front.

"No—they might still be on their way here."

"Oh, great," Snotlout said. "Well, this is awesome! What're we gonna do? Are we gonna get attacked? I mean, Hookie doesn't listen and all, but I don't want him getting hurt or locked up!"

An image of Stormfly chained up in the Kill Ring and used as a training tool again popped into my head. I cringed.

"It's not gonna happen," I said, even though I knew it was just a lie to make myself feel better. If I let myself get consumed with doubts and worries, they'd be much more likely to happen. So we had to keep pushing back, no matter what.

We did just that and made it to the front, giving us a good view of the Chief, Gobber, Trader Johann, and Hiccup and Toothless.

"They sure look confident," Snotlout complained. "I bet we're doomed. I _knew_ things couldn't get back to normal!"

I almost rolled my eyes at him, biting back a snide comment asking him when he'd changed his mind. Instead, I focused on the Chief's group, trying to see if I could gauge the severity of the situation from them.

Hiccup was sitting atop Toothless' back, shoulders hunched and jaw clenched. He was staring off into space, eyes distant. Toothless was flicking his eyes around the room, pupils slit, wings half-open, and ears pinned.

The Night Fury caught my eye and paused. I waved and then flinched when pain shot up through my arm—gods, I had to stop forgetting about that.

Toothless narrowed his eyes and shook his head like he'd been sprayed with water. Even I could tell that he was _not_ happy.

The Chief said something to Hiccup. There was a moment, and then his son snapped to attention and nodded. Gobber rolled his shoulders in a huge shrug and stepped up to the roundtable. He took a moment to glance around.

"Alright!" He boomed. "Is that everyone?"

Lots of talking—and "no"s—filled the room.

"Welp, they'll get here eventually," Gobber drawled. "This is gonna be real quick, so all of ya keep yer mouths shut until we're done. I'm lookin' at _you_ —yes, you!" He pointed with his hook. I followed it and grimaced.

He was speaking to Dogsbreath.

Even though he'd been singled out as a troublemaker, Dogsbreath merely glared and crossed his arms. He held strong and proud even as some people began whispering about him.

"Ouch, that's gotta hurt," Snotlout snickered. "Serves 'em right for freaking out on Hiccup awhile ago."

"Shh!"

The Chief had stepped up, his jaw set and his eyes hard and focused. He waited until everyone's attention was focused on him before he began to speak.

"Trader Johann has arrived with foreboding news," he announced. "There seem to be incredibly large dragon raids in the north, but they are not the severe and bloodthirsty raids that were seen in the other islands. The dragons seem to be only flying overhead, and apparently are not stealing if they descend."

There was a small uptake at this. I glanced at a very confused Snotlout. If the dragons weren't attacking or stealing, then were they really raiding?

"These raids are moving south, which places Berk in their path. But we all need to be reminded that these are _rumors_ —Trader Johann has not personally witnessed one of these strange raids, and we do not know if they will even come to Berk." He took a moment to send a firm, commanding stare through the crowd. "I expect all of you to continue to treat the dragons here with respect. Do not attack them based on mere rumors, unless you want Berk to fall back into war again."

He let that sink in.

"That is all there is to report."

Hiccup shot his father a surprised look. Toothless shifted in place and lifted his head to look far behind me. He threw his head once, flicking an ear.

"So what are we gonna do?" Someone called out. "We can't just sit around and do nothin'!"

"What if the dragons here join 'em?" A woman added—the butcher from the other day, I realized.

I almost groaned. I guess it was stupid to expect everyone to take that all in and casually go on with their day.

The Chief began to speak, stopped himself, and looked at Hiccup. In a low voice, he murmured something to his son.

Hiccup took a deep breath, closing his eyes. It felt like ages had passed before he climbed off of Toothless. He wobbled on his feet and made his way to the front. Toothless leaned into him so much that it almost looked like _Hiccup_ was the one holding him up. His eyes were wide and he was clutching his arms to himself, but he still cleared his throat and made an attempt at straightening himself up.

Silence and stares leapt up to meet him, the air almost solid with tension and confusion. This would be the first time he'd spoken to the village since he'd recovered. That had been the only time that he had explained everything that had happened with the Queen dragon, leaving a lot of unanswered questions in his wake. Yet in the following weeks, he'd grown so distant from Berk that his mere presence was enough to make people pay close attention.

Because if _Hiccup_ was here, then that meant that it was serious.

The volume he put behind his voice—even if it was shaking—came as a shock. "Our nestmates won't attack you—they won't attack _us_ ," he corrected himself. "If it comes down to it, they'll protect our home, just like all of you will. We have to listen to each other, not panic and turn on each other."

" _Listen?_ Do you call dragons doing whatever they want _listening?_ " The butcher Viking demanded.

Hiccup sighed. "It's been hard—trust me, I know. But we can't keep living like we used to. From now on, Toothless and I are going to stay in Berk more to try and help mediate problems. A-and in the meantime…" He held out his hands and pleaded, "You all need to remember that our nestmates aren't doing these things to be aggressive. Sometimes they _are_ in the wrong. But that doesn't mean you can just attack them whenever you get mad at them."

"So ya want us to sit by and do nothin'? I had one break into my shop and steal my goods just a few days ago!" She hissed back.

Toothless glared and pulled his tail around Hiccup. Hiccup shuffled on his feet, grimacing and digging his fingers into his arms. "I'm really sorry about that. For what it's worth, we did let that Flame—that Nightmare know that what he did was not okay. Many of the dragons in our nest don't understand Norse."

This caused a bit of an upstir. While true, probably not the best point to be making at the moment—especially because it was an excuse.

"We're getting far from the subject," the Chief interrupted before it could go anymore downhill from there. "The point is, the dragons won't fight against us. Right, Hiccup?"

He slumped, but nodded anyways.

"But they'll fight for _them_ first!" Someone else cried. "Look at what happened to Astrid!"

My heart skipped at the direct mentioning of my name—and what exactly the villager was implying.

I imagined, again, Stormfly locked up in a cage.

"That's not it at all!" I shouted—and immediately clammed up when everyone in the room turned to look at me. Neither the Chief nor Hiccup spoke up to interrupt me, so I stepped forward and stood up on the roundtable.

"A lot of you keep asking me for help with the dragons. But _this_ is what happens when you don't get what's going on." I brandished my gruesome, wounded arm high for all of them to see. "If we want things to be better between Vikings and dragons, we need to listen to Hiccup, because he's the only one here who knows both sides. So if Hiccup says we have to work together, that's what I'm gonna do. And honestly, it's not that hard! I've spent a long time with Stormfly, my Nadder, and I would even call her my friend."

"Yeah!" Snotlout piped up, not one to be left out of the limelight. "And Hookfang's great, too! He's the best out of all of them! He'd protect my house _so_ hard!"

"Oh! Oh! And Meatlug's amazing—I've learned so much from her!" Came a distant cry from the far back.

I scanned the crowd and tried not to look disheartened that nobody looked too convinced. A stupid plan flashed through my thoughts. My heart hammered, and I spent a quick moment weighing the pros and cons of it.

"And, look," I said. "The dragons _do_ listen to you if you make friends with them." Glancing up at the half-open doors to Town Hall, I easily spotted Stormfly peeking through. She was accompanied by Hookfang, Meatlug, and even Barf and Belch. All of them were poking their noses in but keeping their distance—they must have been what had caught Toothless' attention earlier.

"Stormfly, come!" I shouted.

My voice echoed several times in the silent Town Hall.

Stormfly at first seemed not to understand, tipping her head to the side and staring past me. All I could hear was my heart racing in my ears as the seconds stretched on, and I became more and more convinced that she would accidentally call my bluff.

With a sharp chirp and fluttering of her wings, Stormfly burst through the doors and padded right in. Everyone she came close to drew away as if she would lunge at them. She didn't even stop to investigate anyone or wander off—she kept her sights on me and didn't stop. Because I was standing on the table, we stood eye-to-eye when she came to a stop.

"Thanks, girl," I whispered to her, reaching a hand out and petting her forehead. She threw her head into it enthusiastically, and then opened her jaw wide and licked my face. "Ugh, nevermind."

At first, everyone was too shocked to say anything—many of them had likely never seen a dragon _listen_ to a direct command before. Sure, I would call Stormfly to me from time to time, but more often than not, villagers were more focused on her than me when that happened.

"Well, then, if I may have the _honors_ of speaking..."

Dogsbreath stepped from the crowd and into the bubble of space around Stormfly and me. He narrowed his eyes at my wound and crossed his arms.

"If we are in any danger—even if you _say_ that we may not be," he stared at the Chief as he spoke this, "then I say that we do whatever we can to protect our village. If the dragons won't fight _against_ us, then we should make sure they fight _with_ us."

"Aye," the Chief said. "The dragons here are not our enemies."

Dogsbreath nodded and turned to me. "So, how do we get 'em to listen to us?"

A soft voice interrupted, " _You_ have to listen, too."

Hiccup glanced at his father and stepped away from the roundtable, making his way around towards us. Toothless walked at his side with his head held high, acting as a shield between him and the crowd. When they made it to us, his eyes were focused and his face was pale.

Stormfly squeaked and bowed low to him and Toothless. Toothless rumbled something in a low tone, so hushed that I barely heard him even though he was right there. Stormfly replied just as quietly.

Hiccup faced Dogsbreath. He met his hard gaze and offered him an unsteady hand.

Dogsbreath's cool demeanor broke. He recoiled and blinked down at Hiccup, and the moment stretched out so long that I thought he was refusing just out of spite.

Hiccup and Toothless waited, tense and alert.

With a grunt, Dogsbreath stepped closer to them, making a show of not taking Hiccup's hand.

Despite the danger he clearly felt, Hiccup gave a small smile at this. He motioned at Stormfly, and at the same time, Toothless hummed at her.

She shook herself off, bobbed her head once, and craned her neck towards them. Hiccup twisted and, again, raised a shaking palm to Dogbreath.

Now that he knew what was going on, Dogsbreath seemed a lot less confident in his own words. He rocked on his heels, only to straighten up and try to make himself look relaxed. He all but threw his arm out at Hiccup, nearly smacking him in his haste to look casual.

Hiccup clumsily grasped at Dogsbreath's hand, just barely touching him, and pulled him towards Stormfly. She nosed Hiccup and stretched her head close to Dogsbreath's palm—only to stop just before making contact.

All three of them waited to see what Dogsbreath would do. He still tried to look cool and collected, but his expression betrayed him; he was surprised, and maybe even a little afraid. I had no doubt in my mind that he remembered that Stormfly was the dragon who had attacked him to protect Hiccup. I also had no doubt in my mind that he could hold a grudge.

Yet Dogsbreath was stubborn, and if anything, he didn't like to be proven wrong—especially by himself.

He placed his hand on Stormfly's nose. Hiccup backed away from him with an audible sigh of relief.

"S-see?" He breathed, breaking the stunned, heavy silence that had swept over us all. Holding his arms close to his heart, he looked at me with a small, nervous smile. "Not so bad, right?"

This seemed to break the spell he had put over the crowd; conversations sprung up everywhere. Dogsbreath kept his hand on my dragon, even as she closed her eyes, purred, and pushed against him. He pulled away and stepped back, staring down at his hand like he expected it to be a different color.

I let out a breath I hadn't realized I was holding and jumped down from the roundtable. Stormfly let out a complaining cry at not being petted anymore. The chatter around us began to rise.

Despite everything, I couldn't keep a huge smile from my face. For some reason, seeing Hiccup interacting with people—even if he was clearly freaked out and on-edge—made me feel hopeful. It was better than nothing, and it was _loads_ better than that exhausted, distant person he had been a few days ago. He needed _something_ , and maybe this was it.

For his sake, I hoped it was.

In the sudden disorder, a little girl burst forward. "I wanna pet the dragon!" She shrieked, running right up to Stormfly. My dragon jerked away, startled.

"Wait—!" Hiccup started. Toothless swung his tail around and blocked her with it, ears pinned against his head.

Stormfly had already noticed her extended hands, though. With a happy chirp, she craned her neck over Toothless and nosed the little girl, wiggling her rump in excitement and purring as loud as she could.

This, apparently, was the break in the dam. Everyone decided to say their opinion all at the same time, and in just a few seconds, it became so loud that the only way to hear anything was to shout. It was too difficult to read the crowd; some people seemed anxious, others excited, some speaking of pets and gossiping about Dogsbreath, and others worrying or anticipating a deadly raid. The girl's mother sprung forward and chased her in circles around a now-overexcited Stormfly. By the time I'd glanced back over at Hiccup, Dogsbreath had slipped away into the crowd.

Hiccup and Toothless were pressed close to each other and peering around the room. Despite this, Hiccup seemed a little more relaxed than before—he still looked tense, but he wasn't shaking, so I hoped that was a good sign.

All of the sudden, they both twisted around and focused on something behind me. I turned around just in time to see the Chief approaching.

"Well done, both of you," he said over the uproar. "Nothin' else can be said at this point—not that we need to. I think we've driven the point in well enough."

I brightened at the praise and straightened my back. "T-thanks, Chief!" A bit more sheepishly, I added, "I'm sorry about interrupting."

"I'm glad you did," Hiccup said, although I could barely hear him. "Thanks for the help, Astrid."

Toothless chose this as a good time to interrupt, butting Hiccup and then throwing his head towards the door. He seemed to say something that I couldn't hear, because Hiccup leaned in and tilted his head to the side to listen.

"You're right," I barely heard him say. He glanced over at the Chief and me. "We need to tell our nestmates, too—they're probably really confused by now."

The Chief seemed disappointed, but nodded anyways. "Good plan. I'll finish up affairs with Johann, and then I will see you tonight, right?"

Hiccup and Toothless shared a look. "R-right," Hiccup said.

The Chief nodded to dismiss them. By the time I'd started to say something, Hiccup had already leapt onto Toothless' back, and they were gone.

 **o.O.o**

Toothless

Oh, thank the Dragon of the Sun and the Dragoness of the Moon and all of the gods beneath Them.

Our nestmates, of course, were far more understanding than the humans. All it took was a quick announcement: another nest has been spotted moving in a flare-like formation from north to south, and we should be on our guard for their arrival. While alarming and strange, the news was taken with much more grace than the Vikings; not a single threat was made, nor talk of fighting the humans. There was nothing we _could_ do but brace ourselves.

I could grudgingly admit that I understood the sentiment behind the humans' distrust, but that didn't mean that I had to _like_ it. For now, though, I was just glad that we'd been freed from that gods-damned stone-cave. More than that, though…

" _Hiccup good!"_ I purred between leaps across the wood-caves, trying to make myself sound as impressed as I could. " _Speak good!_ " I wanted to say much more: how proud I was of his bravery, how shocked I had been that he had _touched_ a human just to prove a point, how happy I was that he had managed to stay calm despite being petrified the entire time. That would involve some charades later.

Hiccup gave a nervous laugh. "I felt like my heart was gonna explode the entire time—sometimes it was all I could do to pay attention. But…thanks. I mean—here, let me try this."

I skidded on top of the wood-cave we had just landed on, digging my claws into its surface and whipping my tail for balance. Hiccup purred and hummed at the same time, rising and falling in pitch in rapid succession. I tipped my head back and forth and perked my ears to listen better, staring off into space to put more focus into my hearing.

It was almost monotone and slow and _odd_ , but still recognizable and so, _so_ close.

" _Good!_ " I said again, craning my neck backwards to headbutt him. " _Need practice. Practice now!_ "

Hiccup wrapped his paws tight around my neck and purred. We held still, taking in the moment. Eventually, he let go and said, "Maybe I should start with something easier?"

" _Human, dragon_ ," I teased, and he swatted at my ear.

I resumed our meandering path over the wood-caves as Hiccup practiced, focusing more on getting the speed and subtle changes in pitch and vibration than actually saying something. If a dragon happened to fly within earshot, they would have thought we'd been possessed by some wayward spirits; a Shadow-Blender bounding over human nests with a much smaller Shadow-Blender sitting atop him and spouting out random, almost-dragonlike sounds.

As we continued, the both of us relaxed more; I became less hyper-focused on our surroundings, and a lightness began to replace the tight, high-strung tone Hiccup was speaking in. He became less worried about _how_ he did it and began focusing on the speaking itself, letting his sounds drift and carry into each other.

This made for some… _interesting_ vocalizations. It didn't help that Hiccup's voice was much higher-pitched than it had been as a dragon, making him sound like a fledgling. So at one point, when he casually strung together enough sounds that _almost_ sounded like a rather nasty curse, I burst out laughing.

"W-what?!" Hiccup asked, alarmed and self-conscious.

" _Bad word!_ " I chuckled, leaning over a tree-cave to see where we are. "Oh! _Us here!_ "

I leapt down and trotted right into the smoke-cave. Hiccup slid off my back and winced, holding his metal leg up. At my worried look, he held up a paw.

"Don't worry—it's just sore," he said. "Pushing a stump down on a hard metal surface all the time will do that."

I sniffed at the fake leg for signs of infection and almost began complaining about it, but held my tongue. I was just grateful that the humans, despite all their flaws, had one thing that dragons did not: ingenuity that they extended outside of their own bodies. It made their lives full of artificial and fake objects, but in this case, it had allowed Hiccup to walk.

Hiccup hobbled off further into the smoke-cave, holding his arms out like wings whenever he lost his balance and teetered off to the side. I followed him as he went around and gathered as much paper and sticks as he could.

" _Interested, why paper?_ " I asked after Hiccup had taken damn near the whole supply and clutched it to his chest.

Hiccup sent me a strained smile. "Well, if today has taught me anything…" he peeked outside and sighed. "Gods, it's only _noon_ and I'm exhausted. Anyways…"

He had begun to limp back towards the entrance, and I pushed up against him and poked his shoulder with my nose. " _Up?_ "

"Yeah," he grunted as he climbed on with one paw, clutching the papers and sticks in the other. Once he was secured, I stepped outside, opened my wings, and hopped up onto a nearby wood-cave. We walked along the caves until we found somewhere somewhat comfortable and flat. I took care to choose one fairly _low_ to the ground—well within reach of the ground below, which was still devoid of humans. After spinning in a quick circle, I settled down, smiling and giving formal nods to nearby nestmates roosting on other wood-caves.

Hiccup seemed to have forgotten what we were talking about, reorganizing his papers and sticks and clucking at them. He had that distant, tired look in his eyes that meant that he would probably pass out from exhaustion soon.

I frowned at how quickly he had lost track of our conversation. " _Paper?_ " I asked again.

"Oh! Right, sorry," Hiccup stammered. He climbed down and lied on his stomach besides me with his papers, cradling them close to him like eggs. "It's just been a lot today—I have a lot on my mind. _Way_ too much. I don't even know how to start processing this. Except...for one thing."

With a small groan, he forced himself to sit up and set me with a serious, determined look.

I knew right away what he was going to say, and almost tried to interrupt him before he started.

"Toothless, _please_ ," Hiccup begged. " _Please_ let the elders heal your tail."

The surrounding dragons who could understand Norse perked up.

It was entirely possible, of course—something that the elders made sure I knew damn near every other day. It would be an incredibly painful procedure, but something that would only take a few minutes to do and possibly a day or so's time worth of re-adjusting to it. With the sheer amount of magic available through the elder dragons, there would be no fear of the magic accidentally injuring me or going awry.

That wasn't the point.

" _No,_ " I said, filling my tone with confidence and resolution. " _Hiccup no fly, Toothless no fly._ "

"But that's not _fair!_ " Hiccup burst. "Why should you be stuck like this because of me?"

Because the very opposite was what was "unfair". Because I would rather have the gods strike me down than open my wings and fly unburdened, free and joyous and unbounded. Because I would never forgive myself, to take off into the skies and leave my brother grounded below, watching longingly from the dirt.

Because _that_ wasn't fair. Because _that_ wasn't _right_ , to abandon him like that, to flaunt to him everything that he could never be as he stood there in his human form with his eyes trained ever-upwards.

" _Hiccup no fly, Toothless no fly_ ," I repeated. " _Hiccup walk, Toothless walk. Me no want fly no Hiccup. That_ sad, _no happy._ "

"But…with that nest, and the Bog Burglars—" Hiccup began.

" _Hiccup!_ " I interrupted, purring and nuzzling him. " _Nestmate here. Us nest big, Berk big. It is fine._ "

"No, it's— _ugh!_ "

Hiccup groaned and began scrubbing my saliva off of his fur with his paws. I stuck my tongue out and feigned licking him again, and he swatted at me.

"I really think you should do it, Toothless," Hiccup said. His brief bout of energy faded, and he slouched over, leaning heavily on my side. "Even if we don't know whether we'll be attacked or not...I _want_ you to be able to fly."

" _Me want_ you _fly_ ," I retorted, lifting my nose up delicately.

Hiccup groaned and rubbed his eyes. "What, me riding on your back wouldn't be good enough? It's good enough for me!"

" _Hiccup. No. Fly_ ," I said, " _Toothless. No. Fly._ "

"Dragon of the Sun, why are you so stubborn?" Hiccup moaned, flopping over as dramatically as he could.

" _Me?!_ " I squeaked. " _No_ you?"

"Yeah, yeah," he mumbled. He closed his eyes for a brief moment and then shook himself awake. "This isn't the end of this, you know."

I gave a sad grin. "Certainly, considering we talk about this _all the time._ " I shifted and rested my head down beside him, covering him with my wing and curling my tail around him.

"Mhm," he said, scooting closer to me.

" _Sleep?_ "I asked. When he began to shake his head, I amended, " _Me tired. Us need sleep._ "

"Maybe...little bit," he said. His breathing evened out.

Well, if _I_ had learned anything today, it was that there was nothing like a healthy dose of peer pressure to convince him to take care of himself.

I tried to stay awake and alert, but my mind raced with the day's events. From confronting the human "Dog's-breath", to speaking to Astrid, to meeting that awful stranger, to the gathering of the human nest…this was _not_ how we had planned our morning to go.

It was much better than expected, and for that, I was immensely grateful. As stressful as the day had been, Hiccup had pushed through with that blind stubbornness of his that I had come to both love and hate.

Yet even with the many victories we had achieved today and the rekindling of his confidence, there was still something…wrong. One relatively good day had not magically cured him, and we had yet to truly _speak_ about this problem. Now that we had finally improved our language to at least address it, I wasn't going to let up.

Because Hiccup had physically recovered, but he was ill at mind.

The weight of it all rested heavy on my wings, pinning me to the ground. I pushed closer to him for comfort. I was well-aware that by staying on top of the wood-caves, we were still, in some part, avoiding the humans. Yet we had done as much as we could for now, and for that, we needed a well-deserved break.

There was only more to come.

 **o.O.o**

A dragon screamed.

I snapped awake, flaring my wings out and unsheathing my teeth and claws.

" _Woah!_ " Hiccup yelped. A millisecond later, several nestmates let out horrified cries.

It was enough to clear the drowsiness of sleep from my head, allowing me to assess the situation.

Fledglings were playfighting in the air in clumsy swoop and turns, heading to the opposite edge of the island—hence the screaming. The sun was setting, many of our nestmates were lounging on the nest we were on, humans were staring at us from the ground…

…and I had also flung Hiccup clear off the wood-cave, considering that he was hanging from his furs by the jaws of a young, tan Flame-Skin.

I gaped at him in horror. "I'm…" I swallowed. "I'm _so sorry_ , Hiccup!"

"It's fine, Toothless," he gasped, although he was still out of breath from the fright.

The Flame-Skin pulled Hiccup around so that he wasn't dangling over a sheer drop. "'ere shuff I put 'em?" He asked, his voice muffled around Hiccup's furs.

"U-uh, here," I stuttered, still shaken, and pointed my nose besides me.

The Flame-Skin stooped over and gently set Hiccup down, eyes lingering on his fake leg. Hiccup scrambled to his four paws and purred, stretching his neck to nose the Flame-Skin. Our nestmate was quick to return the gesture, closing his eyes and leaning it with a huge smile.

Hiccup leaned back and, the gods bless him, tried to speak.

"' _an ou,_ " he thrummed.

The Flame-Skin froze, blue eyes wide. "Great Dragoness of the Moon, did I break him?!"

"No!" I hissed. "He said 'thank you'!"

The Flame-Skin took this in along with Hiccup's expectant, hopeful expression. He threw himself down into a bow. "Y-you're very welcome, my King! Forgive me for not understanding you!"

Hiccup nudged him again, humming in a soothing manner. The Flame-Skin backed away, still bowing, and nestled down just at the edge of the wood-cave. All around us, our nestmates began to snicker and tease him, and he curled up in embarrassment.

"Thank you for catching him!" I said in an attempt to make him feel better. That seemed to only make him feel worse, and he hid his face behind a wing. "Oh, don't worry—his speaking is…still, ah…in development?"

Hiccup plopped down next to me, leaning into my side. "You know, out of everyone here, I think it should be one of _us_ who's the most embarrassed."

"N-no, my King!" The Flame-Skin yipped, lifting his head. He was apparently one of our nestmates who could understand human speech—surprising, considering he was so young. "It's been so long since I've seen you—I should have listened more!"

I chuckled at the irony behind his words—was that not the root of our problems with the humans?

"Don't worry," I told him. Then, for Hiccup's benefit, " _It is fine._ "

If Hiccup speaking caused him a shock, this only doubled it. The poor Flame-Skin's eyes got even bigger as he tipped his head to the side. Then, overcome with mortification at not comprehending us _again_ , he ducked his head under a wing and pretended to sleep.

"Aww," Hiccup laughed, along with the rest of our observing nestmates. Which was all of them, seeing that they had witnessed one of their Kings thrown off a wood-cave seconds ago.

" _Toothless bad brother,_ " I groaned. " _Sorry!_ "

"It's fine, Toothless," Hiccup said, shifting around until he was lying on his stomach. "At least I'm _really_ awake now. But hey, did I sound alright? He seemed kinda freaked out…"

Thank the gods, a change in subject. " _Good, good practice,_ " I said, trying not to sound too relieved. " _Hear word!_ "

Hiccup blinked. His eyes brightened with life and he straightened up, beaming. "R-really?"

I nodded exuberantly—what, like I was about to say _no?_ —and he bounced in place in excitement.

"I…I did it! We did it!" He gasped, like he couldn't actually believe it. "I-I never thought that…I mean, I _wanted_ to, but I always thought I wouldn't be able to."

"Nonsense," I said, rolling my eyes. Hiccup was the most capable dragon that I knew; of course he could do what no other could.

Hiccup threw his paws around my neck and pressed his cheek against mine. "Thank you, Toothless," he whispered, closing his eyes. "This means so muchto me. _'ank ou._ "

" _Love_ ," I thrummed, bringing up a paw to return the hug and letting my eyes slide shut. The stress from before drifted away, and for just a moment—no matter how small—everything seemed alright. We would need to return to the King's nest eventually, but I was more than happy to let that wait.

"Well...now that I'm awake, I guess I can work on this," Hiccup mused, shifting around and pawing at his sticks and papers. "I don't think Dad would be done talking to Trader Johann by now."

"Think, or hope?" I teased. "Because _I_ hope."

He offered a small grin and began to work with such a deep focus that he didn't even try to speak anymore. Unwilling to distract him, I watched his work as he moved his paw across the papers, the lines became more steady and intentional with each try. He would sometimes wince and drop his stick, flexing his little claws. He continued regardless.

Now that we were awake, our nestmates were eager to crowd around us. They rejoiced at our being there, telling wild stories and taking the opportunity to offer food to us now that they had the chance. To many of them, it was their first interaction with us since coming to Berk, our nest was so large.

Above all, finally spending some time with our nestmates brought with it something unexpected: comfort. It was easy to let go a little, to get carried away and pretend that everything had happened was only a dream. It made the future seem so much less daunting.

We remained like that until the sun had fully set, settling a calm and frigid blanket of shade upon the earth.

 **o.O.o**

The walk back was cold, save for the warmth Hiccup provided as he rested on my shoulders. It wasn't unbearable, and more than once, I considered asking Hiccup if we could perhaps sleep outside and pretend to have forgotten our arrangements with the King.

That would just stagnate everything more, though. Hiccup was right; like it or not, we had to move forward, and that meant throwing ourselves into these uncomfortable situations.

 _We are Kings, too_ , I had been telling myself for more than a full turning of the moon. It had been a mantra I'd repeated to myself to keep my confidence, to know that I was not outranked by the human King, to assert our worth.

It was time that I started acting like it. The very fact that our nestmates considered our presence near them as a delightful surprise was proof enough that we had been acting like fledglings. We had been naïve and, as much as it shamed me, fearful. Rightly so, of course, but we had mulled in it rather than pushing on.

As reasonable and rational and logical as all of that was, though…

" _To'ess?_ " Hiccup asked, trying once more to speak in our unique language.

I twitched my tail and fluttered my wings. The King's nest was just past this curve, up this lonely hill blotted out by the dark shadows of the forest. Standing still, all that could be heard was the rustling foliage, the crickets, and the distant ocean. The Dragoness of the Moon was bright above, lending guidance to all who remained awake.

" _No want,_ " I growled, allowing my tone to reflect my anxiety. " _Me nervous._ "

Hiccup attempted dragon speech again, " _tt's 'ine._ "

"Hm?"

"It's fine," Hiccup said sullenly. "But…we've been dragging this out too long. It's not like he's gonna yell at us. Although that just makes it worse..."

" _Yes_ ," I agreed. The King's rather passive and submissive behavior towards us in the past couple of days had been a confusing breath of fresh air. He hadn't even been forcing Hiccup to go to the smoke-cave, only asking if he would go and frowning worriedly when Hiccup spluttered out an excuse.

Hiccup wrapped his paws around my neck and purred. I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, and shook myself off. Everything would be fine. Even if the last time we had spoken with the King had been a disaster, that didn't mean that it would be true for this time. I wouldn't _allow_ it to be true.

I took us along again, trying to ignore my racing heart and the way that Hiccup grew more and more tense despite his attempts to comfort me.

So needless to say, we were a little wound up when an ear-splitting shriek ripped through the air.

"Ah!" Hiccup and I both yelped. I spread my wings and spun around, crouching low and staring up at the dark sky.

It was a dragon. Was it the other nest? Was it a raid? Were we being attacked? What would we do, alone in the middle of an empty pathway? Where were they? Where was—

A small figure plummeted to the ground—so small that I did not see it until it was too late to react.

I remained frozen, staring at the tiny Flame-Skin in shocked confusion. Hiccup leapt off of me, landed clumsily on his four paws, and closed the short gap between us.

"H-help…" the fledgling wheezed. His eyes slipped shut, his head thumped to the ground, and his body went limp.

Hiccup and I exchanged a horrified look, and I rushed forward.

"Oh, Dragoness of the Moon," I whispered, leaning down and sniffing the fledgling. He didn't _smell_ sick or wounded—all I could pick up was fear and ocean spray. " _No smell hurt. No fight? Do not know!_ "

Hiccup hissed in confusion and fear. " _'hat?_ " He asked nobody, craning his head towards the heavens. His eyes widened, and he gave a sharp warning hiss.

Four more fledglings stumbled to the earth—the very same ones whom I had scolded this morning for stealing. The playfulness in their eyes was gone, their rambunctious energy dissipated. Like their fallen friend, they reeked of fear-scent and saltwater, their eyes were alight with terror. They were so shaken, they could barely stand.

"What happened?!" I demanded.

" _K-Kings!_ " The female Two-Head wailed, rushing towards us. Hiccup reached his paws out and let her dash right into him. She curled up against him, whimpering, and he gave an unsteady purr.

" _I'tts ine_ ," He murmured, holding her close.

I crouched down as the rest of the fledglings did the same, purring and nuzzling them as they cowered against us. For a long, horrible moment, the fledglings did nothing but cry, whine, and cling to us.

I was sure we were under attack by the time another Flame-Skin had collected himself enough to speak.

"W-we were just p-playing," he sobbed, "we were seeing w-who could fly the—the farthest, and…and…" He curled up with a sob.

My heart dropped. "It's okay!" I soothed, nosing the distraught fledgling and giving him a lick on the head. "It's okay—please, tell me what happened?"

"We lost our friend!" The female Two-Head wept. "The Hum-Wing! We lost her!"

" _No Hum-Wing_ ," I explained to Hiccup. He reared his head, holding the Two-Head tighter. To the fledglings, I said in as gentle a voice as I could, "And how did you lose her?"

The Two-Walker hung her head in shame. "She flew the farthest," she whimpered. "I-I made fun of her, I told her a Hum-Wing can't fly over the sea, and she flew out to prove me wrong." Her voice grew in pitch and intensity, "It—it was _all my fault!_ "

" _Fly ocean—no nest_ ," I breathed to Hiccup. " _No here._ "

" _When?!_ " He demanded, crouching closer to the fledglings and baring his teeth in anxiety.I could almost imagine him casting his wings out over them to keep them close.

"We looked for her _all evening!_ " The Flame-Skin said. "B-but the ocean is so big and scary, a-and it was making a lot of weird noise too! A-and once the sun set, it was too hard to see!"

That meant the fledgling had been lost when the sun had been up— _hours_ ago _._

Oh, gods.

" _When sun_ ," I told Hiccup.

He closed his eyes and rested his head in his paw, gritting his teeth. He had to take a deep breath to compose himself for the fledglings. They still picked up on it.

"We thought we could find her…" the Two-Walker sniffled, curling up against Hiccup's side. "We thought we would get in trouble…"

"We're so stupid!" The Two-Head snarled at nobody, baring tiny and weak fangs. "We should be exiled!"

"Nonsense," I said. "We'll—we're heading back to the nest right now, alright? We'll have entire flares looking for her in just a moment." To Hiccup, " _Flare now_."

He nodded, lifting out a paw and beckoning the weeping fledglings towards him. They clung to him. " _It—is—fine,_ " he soothed.

"W-what?" The Flame-Skin sobbed between gasps. "It's—it's _not!_ We—we need to tell the others! Half of us are still looking on the coast!"

Horror rushed through my body like a gale. Another one could very well be flying out to sea in desperation. Their wings were too small, their flight too inexperienced. The ocean was rough and blasted unpredictable and unforgiving winds without warning. Storms came and went, and steady air—air suitable for flying—was too high up for dragons as young as the fledglings to reach.

Alone, flying over the ocean was a death sentence for a fledgling.

"Shh," I said, pushing the horrible thought away. "Let's go. _Up?_ "

Hiccup shifted his weight around and rose to his two legs. One by one, he lifted each brokenhearted fledgling and placed them on my back, where they clung to my spines and buried their noses into my scales to block out the world. He cradled the exhausted, unconscious fledgling in his own paws, shifting him around into as comfortable a position as he could get.

" _Re'dy_ ," he said.

We turned back towards Berk.

Footsteps approached alarmingly close behind us. A twig snapped.

"H-Hiccup?"

The both of us spun on our feet. The King of humans was standing right there—most likely _had_ been standing there—with an expression of such profound horror that it was almost as if he had understood what the fledglings had said. It took me a moment to register _why_ he looked so distraught, so lost. I gasped and sent Hiccup a wide-eyed look.

"Dad!" Hiccup said, equally surprised. He let a soft growl escape him and quickly cut himself off. "I'm sorry, but something's happened, we have to go—"

"What… _was_ that?" The King gasped. "You were walking around like…what…what were those _sounds_ you were making?"

At first Hiccup scrunched his brow in confusion—and then he paled in the soft moonlight.

"I was…speaking," he drew out, blinking at me. I returned the look.

Neither of us had even _noticed_ ; we'd been too busy with the fledglings. But he had spoken—and what more, the fledglings had understood him!

I wanted _so badly_ to be happy—to prance around him, to sing praises to the gods, to drag him to each and every nestmate and have him speak to them just to show off his talent and ingenuity.

" _Need go!_ " I pressed instead.

Hiccup set his jaw and nodded. "Dad, a fledgling—a baby dragon is missing," he said. " _Has_ been missing. It—it might already be too late, we gotta go. I promise you, I'll explain everything later."

The King sighed. "Hiccup," he said, and I knew just from the way he spoke that he was putting his foot down. "This has gone on long enough. We _need_ to speak about…about this," he waved at Hiccup. Oddly enough, this seemed to bring a small, hopeful smile to his lips, and he waited expectantly.

Hiccup shook his head with a soft growl. "That can wait!"

The King slowly dropped his paws. He stared, his eyes lost and disappointed.

Hiccup winced, shifting his gaze away. "I'm…sorry," he whispered. He turned his back on his father, as did I. "We have to go," he murmured, stepping closer to me.

I dipped a shoulder for him, but he stopped just before climbing on. With the fledglings stretched across my back, there was no room for him. We shared a look of understanding; we would not force them to move from their place of safety, not when they had been through so much. He would have to walk.

"Son," the King said. "Please, I—I'm trying to understand."

"You've done so well," I snorted, not even giving him the dignity of looking at him with the corner of my eye. For him to ignore such a horrible event—to completely dismiss the almost certain loss of a young life…

"Wait." The King drew closer, and this time I _did_ look at him, if only to make sure he didn't try something.

His eyes met mine, and he stopped a winglength away. "I'm sorry," he said, holding his paws up complacently. "Earlier, I thought—I thought that you weren't coming home again. So when I saw you here, I…that's besides the point," he interrupted himself. He straightened and took another step closer. "We can't keep doing this, Hiccup. You grow more distant by the day, you've started to become afraid of the villagers, you keep acting like a...a…" He didn't finish the sentence, and said with soft regret, "You won't even _look_ at me."

Hiccup shifted around to do just the opposite, staring defiantly at the King.

"Hiccup…" The King reached a trembling paw out. "Please, _talk_ to me. Just this morning you wanted to. What am I doing wrong?"

This softened Hiccup's expression. He looked at the King's outreaching paw.

Hiccup sighed and turned to me. "Here—take him." He held up the unconscious fledgling. "Run back to our nestmates and tell them what happened."

I balked. " _N-no!_ _Hiccup here!_ " I threw my head at my back. The fledglings could make room or something—I wasn't about to leave him here alone.

"You're a lot faster than me," Hiccup said. "It'll take at least half an hour for me to walk back. If it's been hours, then we need to get flares out as soon as possible."

I glared at him and then the ground. My ears and wings drooped, and I hung my head. " _…No want._ "

"Me neither." Hiccup put a warm paw on my neck. "But we have to. I'll be fine."

I straightened up. He was right.

We were Kings, too.

"I won't take long," I promised him. " _Me here. Certain._ "

I leaned forward and pressed my forehead against his. Then I stooped and gently took the fledgling's scruff in my teeth.

Twisting around, I opened my wings and threw myself into a desperate sprint. Dread collected heavier and heavier in my heart the further I left my brother alone and open and exposed. With each bound away, nervous anxiety rushed through me with such intensity that it was painful.

Leaving Hiccup was wrong _._ It _hurt._ We had never been separated since the Queen's fall—we had _always_ been together, and here I was, leaving him at the mercy of the King.

The path to the human nest shortened in what felt like a heartbeat. I barreled into the nest and skidded to a stop. Setting the still-limp fledgling on the ground, I threw my head to the sky and spread my wings.

"Our nestmates, to us!" I roared. My voice echoed hollowly off the human nests. " _Quickly!_ "

 **o.O.o**

Hiccup

Toothless was gone.

Toothless was gone.

I clutched at my chest and closed my eyes, trying to force my frantic heart to stop, for the pain slicing through it to subside.

He was gone—for the first time, he was gone, and I had never felt so helpless and vulnerable and _weak_ —

Something touched my shoulder. I cried out, spun, and clawed at it even as I lost my balance and fell.

Dad was already backing away, holding his hands up like I was ready to blast him with fire. "It's alright," he rushed. "I won't—I won't hurt you."

As he spoke, his voice cracked with fear and pain. My mouth went dry.

"I know," I reminded myself. "I'm…I'm sorry."

Lying there on the ground with Dad looming over me, the strength in my limbs failed as a torrent of lightheadedness and nausea rammed into me. A great weight pounded onto my chest, squeezing me so tightly and unexpectedly that it was difficult and painful to breathe. Shadows stalked the edges of my mind, bringing with them unwanted memories—of the incident just a few days ago and the many times before where I had been in this position, where Dad had cornered me or trapped me or hurt me or…

I squeezed my eyes shut. _Stop it!_

The memories rushed through me, too fast to process yet slow enough for them to feel horrifyingly real. Dad was standing there, holding his sword and charging at me with hatred in his eyes. I blinked and I was standing beneath him, broken and chained and desperately trying to look unconscious. I tasted his blood on my teeth—heard the dragons of the Kill Ring die for me—felt the ground vibrate as the crowd above roared and cheered—

It was too much—it was too much—!

I couldn't _breathe!_

I bared my teeth at it all, curled up, and clenched my claws into my fur.

 _It's not real!_ I screamed at the shadows. _It's not real!_

The shadows seemed to laugh. Something grabbed me in rough claws. A petrified voice shouted, but it sounded muffled and far away.

I snarled, bending my fingers into claws, and lunged at the shadows—

" _Hiccup!_ "

Dad flinched away from my swinging hand, but didn't loosen his tight hold on my shoulders.

I heaved frantic, shallow breaths, blinking rapidly. Where was I? What happened? Where was Toothless?

I met my father's horrified stare, and it all came crashing back.

"Please," Dad whispered, eyes glossy and his hands quivering. "Pleasetell me what's wrong."

I sat there, wheezing and sweaty and shivering and chest burning.

Hot anger burned through me, just as sudden and unexpected as the attack.

It had happened _again._ The first time and second time, I could almost dismiss—they had been so close together, and I had genuinely felt threatened both times.

But we had been working _so_ hard. We had been improving our language so much that I had managed to _speak_ it. We had made an unsteady truce with Dogsbreath—the person I had assumed was the _source_ of the problem. We had gotten Astrid to help us, we had convinced the villagers to be more open to peace, Dad had made it crystal-clear that he was on our side...hell, I'd even managed to get some good drawings of some projects done!

After all that, I could almost think that they were isolated incidents. But Dad had been standing there, _begging_ me to listen to him, doing _nothing_ to threaten me, and it still happened _again!_ And now we had a large group of raiding dragons headed towards us, villagers getting ready to attack dragons, entire tribes blaming their problems on me, and even a missing fledgling that was probably dead!

"I don't…" I swallowed and blinked away frustrated tears. "I don't _know!_ "

Dad hung his head, worry lines crossing his face and making him look twice his age. "Gobber spoke to me a while ago. He's suspected this far longer than I have." He closed his eyes. "I should have listened to him."

I tried to understand—but it was like he was speaking a different language. I couldn't focus. My senses were failing me, my hearing muffled and my sight dim and my nose useless. Unlike with Toothless, I was left clawing at his words, fighting to hold onto them. "W-what?"

Dad studied me. His eyes had heavy bags underneath them. "Most adults have seen this before," he said in a slow and gentle voice, like he was explaining this to a child. "Men who come back from war will stop practicing their battle skills. People who suffer horrible dragon attacks will no longer bear the sight of them, nor go out at night." Pain swam in his eyes, and he continued, "I've never seen it in someone as young as you, but looking back, it's easy to see the signs. And not just…this."

Tears welled up in my eyes again, and I furiously scrubbed them away and looked off to the side. "Well, I guess I'm just special," I growled. "I-I've always been good at being the screwup."

"Don't say that." Dad straightened up, setting his jaw. "It's high time that I stepped in. I thought that if things could go back to normal, then you'd get better...but I was wrong."

I shook my head. "I don't _want_ things to go back to 'normal'."

"Then…what do you want?"

"W-what do you think?" I snapped, glaring at him. Dad paled, but I couldn't stop. " _Nothing_ is getting better! Just acting like everything's fine won't make it fine, and, and I don't even feel _safe_ anymore! Like any second now, someone's going to attack me or Toothless or we're going to be attacked by another tribe or...or by..."

I hunched my shoulders up and looked down at his hands, which he had dropped at some point—I hadn't noticed.

"...or by me," Dad filled in what I left out.

The anger seeped away as quickly as it came, leaving me stumbling and breathless. In its place came a hollow emptiness, something that sent chills racing down my spine and my hair standing on end. My arms and legs felt leaden with weariness, and a wave of exhaustion overtook me.

 _I miss Toothless_ , I thought dully to myself, clutching my arms to my chest and focusing on my prosthetic foot.

"Hiccup…" Dad murmured, reaching a tentative hand out to touch my arm. I stared at his hand, but made no effort to lean away. "Gods, Hiccup…I'm so sorry. How…how can I do better?"

I found myself looking for Toothless, and the emptiness pulling away at me widened when I remembered he wasn't there. I had tried to mentally brace myself for this conversation all day, but now with my brother gone, I felt as though everything had slipped away.

"I…" I trailed off, hanging my head. "It's just…you keep acting like nothing's wrong, like—like if you pretend that everything didn't happen the way it did, then they didn't, and—"

A shadow passed overhead. I fell silent. Crouching close to the ground, I craned my head up and scanning the sky with my half-blind eyes.

Just against the stars, I could see dragons flying—the search flares. Homesickness and longing struck me. I wanted like nothing else to be up there with them. I _belonged_ there, free in that night sky.

Still, the sight sent a pang of relief through me, both for the fledgling and myself. With flares leaving, that meant Toothless was on his way back.

The ache in my chest began to ebb away. _Toothless is coming_ , I told myself. _It's going to be okay. Just stop freaking out._

"Hiccup?" Dad asked.

I jumped. "Huh?"

"You were saying…?" Dad said, his voice low and gentle. "I want you to be able to talk to me, son. Please, tell me what I can do, or…or even what's on your mind. _Anything._ "

For the first time, I lifted my eyes to look straight into my father's. He was trying—he was really, really trying.

And I was pushing him away, even though it was the last thing I wanted to do, even though I hated every inch of myself for it, even though I tried and tried to control this fear and send it away forever. I _craved_ that unsteady bond we had once had, because even that was better than this.I _knew_ that. So _why_ did I still feel so scared of him? I knew he would never try to hurt me—that he was going out of his way to show the opposite.

Or…I knew that he would never try to hurt me _now_.

But he had done that and worse—he had wounded me and Toothless and dozens of other dragons in a far deeper and more personal way than simply striking with a sword. He had been the monster that hunted us, that had tried to kill us over and over, that had thrown us in that demonic Kill Ring.

My shoulders drooped. I knew fully well why I was having such a hard time, and so did he. Yet here we were, dancing around the problem and pouncing at its reflections.

"Dad…?" I began. My voice shook.

He leaned forward, eyes bright. I peeked up at him—and then did a double take.

Just behind him, there were a group of dragons hovering low enough for even me to make out the more detailed parts of their appearance. All of them were watching intently, teeth glinting. Had Toothless sent an extra flare here?

I met the golden eyes of the Two-Walker closest to us.

The Two-Walker tipped her head aside, threw her tail behind her, and pulled her wings into a dive.

 _...I don't know her,_ I realized.

A heartbeat later, she swooped over us and snapped her talons out.

My breath was ripped out of me. The ground rushed away with dizzying speed. The Two-Walker banked hard away from Berk.

The vertigo of being snatched off the ground so quickly made my head spin and my ears pop. Yet even through my daze and the familiar sound of wind racing past my ears, an anguished scream cut through the pain and confusion and disorientation.

" _Hiccup!_ "

 **o.O.o**

Up and up and up we went. The frigid air stung. The Two-Walker's talons dug into my back and chest almost deep enough to draw blood. I struggled to breathe.

After several second's worth of readjusting, I squirmed around in the Two-Walker's grasp. She gave a surprised yip and tilted her head to look at me. She looked very business-like, calm and serious.

Then she spoke to me. I caught a question through her inquiring tone, and something that sounded very close to Toothless' word for " _human_ "—or was it " _dragon_ "? It was all too fast and complex for me to even begin to make heads or tails of it. But there was _something_ that stuck out to me and made me blink up at her in surprise.

This dragon had an accent.

She drew her undertones out longer than I was used to, and her words had a more staccato-like delivery in comparison to our nestmates'. She turned to another dragon in her group, a Flame-Skin, and asked him an apprehensive question.

The Flame-Skin responded in the same accent, and just after him, a colorful species of dragon that I had never seen before did the same.

 _The other nest?_ I thought. _Are they the ones that were spotted by the fishing ships? Or are they different?_

They continued to speak. I looked back and forth between them and struggled to follow their conversation. They sounded confused and unhappy, glancing over at me in disbelief every now and then. The two males kept sending nervous looks around them, down towards Berk.

The talons were digging into me, deeper and deeper, and spots began to form in my vision.

It occurred to me that I should probably be scared.

I shuddered at the disconnected way the thought came to mind—how it had been more of a simple observation than any sense of self-preservation. It was like I was outside my own body, disconnected from the reality of the situation. It didn't _feel_ real to me, like I was in a dream even though I knew I wasn't. I wanted to care, but instead I was just...empty.

I was so tired of feeling like this.

Fueled by my own frustration, I began struggling again. The Two-Walker cut herself off and hissed a warning at me. The Flame-Skin made soothing shushing sounds at me, and the colorful dragon narrowed his eyes.

I bared my teeth at them and growled, " _No!_ "

All of them reared and yelped. The colorful dragon abruptly disappeared, only to melt back into view a few seconds later. I began to slip out of the Two-Walker's grasp until she realized what was happening and redoubled her hold. She craned her neck down, narrowing an eye suspiciously, and asked me the same question as before. Again, I caught that paradox of " _human_ " or " _dragon_ ".

With a scowl, I ignored her and kicked at the air.

She huffed and said something to the other two. The Flame-Skin shrugged and threw his head with an urgent hiss. The colorful dragon drew closer and sniffed at me, humming in confusion.

My head spun as they shifted out of their hovers and began flying north. There were no other dragons ahead or behind—they were the only ones.

They were picking up speed.

They were…they were taking me.

My eyes widened as, _finally_ , I began to feel scared. This was real. This was actually happening.

A quick glance around showed that we were the only dragons at this height and that there were a few groups flying low around the coast. They were searching for the lost fledgling out at sea. They would never think to look _up._

I sucked in a deep breath and cupped my hands around my mouth.

" _TOOTHLESS!_ "

The talons clenched so tight around my chest that my breath was knocked out of me. With a terrified snarl, the Two-Walker rattled me around like she would prey. The world jolted and spun painfully, my arms and legs flying in all directions. I tried to grab onto her to escape the worst of it.

When she was done, I let my limbs and head dangle in the air. The colorful dragon scolded her with a furious hiss, and she gave a dismissive grunt. A few seconds passed, and her grasp on me relaxed considerably.

We were about to pass over the village. No dragon had answered my call; we were too far up.

I would have to get out of this on my own.

With nothing else left and time running out, I searched in vain through the sea of foliage below. Even in the darkness, I could make out some tall trees ahead. The sight barely registered before I lurched around, grabbed the ankle of the Two-Walker, and sunk my teeth into her flesh as deep as I could.

Blood filled my mouth and almost made me gag. The Two-Walker screeched and, on instinct, flung me away.

My insides wrenched around as gravity took its hold, dragging me by my tail down to the earth. I spread my arms and legs out like wings and squinted against the stinging air. It wasn't enough.

I was falling, falling like the crippled and broken and useless dragon I was.

The dark maw of the forest was almost upon me. The strangers weren't going to catch me—they weren't naive enough to fly this low, where my nestmates _would_ see them.

Time stretched out before me as I realized that my stupid plan had failed, that I had made a terrible mistake in trusting these dragons to actually care about me, that I was going to pointlessly die here and leave Toothless all alone and Dad thinking that I hated him and worst of all, that it would be _all my fault_ , that it would be because I let my demons take their toll on me, because I was selfish enough to stop caring about myself simply because I didn't want to.

 _I'm so sorry._

I closed my eyes.


	6. Chapter 6

**Hello, everyone! I have an important announcement today, so please read below.**

 **As always, I want to start off by expression my gratitude. Thank you to Nacktgranate,** **HerdOfTurtles, NomexGlove, Ashora, NightShadow9558, Cyeithen, Samateus-Taal, MisstyX0007, TheFuriousNightFury, Elt-1080, xSkiesofBlue11, LlamaQueen666, Anonymous Noob the 2nd, Alexisminas, DevoutRelic, vampireharry the 2, Dragonboy111, dynanskenjin, flopy, Lightwavers, Sun Fury, Varghul, Brenne, Siganna, Crysist, and all anonymous reviewers for your wonderful and thoughtful reviews! And thanks to my beta Crysist for being so thorough with this chapter, and GoldenGriffiness for keeping my head straight.**

 **So, my announcement! I have started medical school, meaning that I no longer have a life. However, I still expect that I will be able to update once every two weeks. I began working on Echoed Songs approximately a year ago, and as of posting this chapter, I have made it up to Chapter 18. That means that bi-weekly updates will last until early next year.**

 **There will be times when I don't have time to update. I will not compromise my education, but I also will not compromise Echoed Songs by uploading a rough draft in place of a polished draft. If there is any reason for a delay, I will update my profile to let you all know when the next expected update will be.**

 **Sorry for such a long author's note! Without further ado, please enjoy the chapter, and have a fantastic day! Critiques and comments are always welcome!**

* * *

 **Chapter 6**

Toothless

"… _toothless…_ "

I lifted my ears and turned to the elder Hum-Wing, who was tending to the unconscious fledgling. "Did you hear that?"

"I did not," she croaked, sniffing the fledgling. With a soft groan, she murmured, "This young one is the brother of the missing fledgling. I pray that we find her."

The feeling of _wrong_ had yet to loosen its grip on me, but now it was worse. "I heard something," I growled, whipping my tail and pawing at the earth.

"I didn't!" The excitable young Flame-Skin said helpfully. "What did you think you heard?"

After a moment to collect my thoughts, a spike of fear burst through my limbs. "I thought I heard Hiccup," I whispered, eyes flicking about.

Almost every single dragon was out on the coast. All that remained were the few dragons who opted to stay behind so that the fledglings would feel safe. We were still grounded in the human nest, and a measurable crowd of Vikings had formed around us.

I couldn't stand it anymore, being separated from Hiccup.

"Take care of them from here," I told the Hum-Wing.

She bowed. I wasted not a second longer, spinning and leaving them there.

My paws pounded on the ground, claws tearing through the soft dirt and kicking up clumps of mud. I didn't know how or why, but something was wrong. Something was wrong and Hiccup was _alone_. Deep within me, I knew I had failed him, and where it counted the most.

 _I'm coming!_ I wanted to shout out to him. _I'm sorry! I'm coming!_

I rounded a curve in the pathway.

The King yelped and jumped around me just before I toppled him over.

We both skidded to a stop, equally flustered and out of breath. I met his eyes.

"Why…" I took a deep, gasping breath. "Why are you _alone?_ "

"A dragon took him!" The King cried, eyes flashing with desperation. "You told it to, right?!"

My wings and tail fell to the ground. I gaped.

Then I got ahold of myself. "Where?!" I demanded, my voice tight and shrill. "When?!"

The King shared my rising terror, his skin losing its color and eyes widening upon seeing my reaction. "It was a Nadder, a black one, it grabbed him and flew this direction, but I lost sight of it—it went off over there!" He threw his paw back towards the human nest.

I launched myself at the nearest tree, gouging deep wounds into it as I hurled my way up. I thrust myself as far out of the canopy as I could, training my ears and eyes on the sky and filling my throat with lighting gas.

 _Please no, please no, please no_ —

Movement fluttered in the corner of my eye. I swiveled my head back towards the human nest.

I saw him for a split second and felt the world underneath me shatter.

I froze, not wanting to believe it. Then, " _NESTMATES!_ "

I had sent several magic-enhanced fireblasts in the intruders' direction before my call had even finished echoing. It was the first time I had had truly had need of my magic in so long, so I had plenty to spare—and I spared none. My fire was so powerful that it almost reached the intruding dragons, exploding in a brilliant purple-white starburst that sent white light upon the entire landscape. It illuminated the cowards, revealing them against the sky.

They turned tail and fled north with the speed only matched by the guilty.

In that moment, I considered it: to bring forth soulfire, that magic of the gods, and send them to their deaths with it. It pulsed just at my heart, tempting me with divine strength.

Hiccup wouldn't do it. He wouldn't abuse the magic of the gods.

And Hiccup needed me.

I threw myself off the tree and pulled my wings into a blind fall through the scratching branches of the pines. A moment of pain and darkness, and my front paws made contact with the ground. I slid into a sprint.

I didn't have to run long.

With my eyes locked upwards, I caught sight of a break in the canopy first. Trailing down from it was a path of destruction—snapped tree branches, pieces of the pelts Hiccup wore, smears of blood…

I stumbled and sunk to the ground.

"Oh, Dragoness of the Moon…"

Moonlight poured through the empty space he'd left in the foliage and shrouded him in a spirit-like glow. He was slumped over the base of a broad branch close to the trunk. His limbs hung in the air, shifting ever-so-slightly with the breeze. His fur dangled over his face, matted and covered in leaves and twigs. He cast long, ghastly shadows onto the ground below, blotting blackened streaks in the cold mist that hung in the air.

He wasn't moving.

No _._ This wasn't happening. This wasn't happening! It _couldn't_ be!

 _Why?!_

The sight was too much for me to bear, my brother dangling there like discarded prey. He looked...he looked...

My throat welled. " _NO!_ " I snarled and sobbed and begged all at once, refusing to even _think_ that he was gone, that he had been ripped away from me so cruelly and so suddenly.

I forced myself to stand up, and it was like my body wasn't my own, like I was lost and disconnected. Snapping my wings open, I flung myself up towards the trunk, flapping as hard as I could. I just managed to land below Hiccup.

" _H-Hiccup?_ " I crawled closer to him, rattling with terror so much that I nearly lost my purchase and fell. "S-stop doing that— _please!_ You're fine! Youhave to be!"

I paused and dragged my eyes over to his chest. I was shaking so much that I could hardly make out any fine details.

I stared and prayed.

Time came crashing to a halt.

Hiccup's chest rose and fell.

The relief was so overwhelming that I swayed, nearly losing my grip. With a choked sob, I scooted further up the tree, leaned over my brother, and took up his fake furs in my teeth. It was almost too easy to lift him off of the branch, he was so motionless and underweight.

I hurried us back down to safety, trying both to take it slow to avoid injuring him any further and also to get down as quickly as possible. Hiccup was unresponsive as I set him down and nudged him.

" _Hiccup?_ " I whimpered, voice trembling. I sniffed at him, and the _stench_ of blood almost overcame me. I swayed where I stood.

 _Dammit, Toothless, do something!_

With frantic licks, I desperately tried to wipe the blood away. That would wake him up, wouldn't it? It had _always_ worked because he hated it so much. It _had_ to work!

He didn't stir. His breathing was uneven. He was still coated in his own blood, so much so that it was impossible to tell where it was coming from.

" _HICCUP!_ " I shouted this time, all but roaring in his face. " _Please!_ " I nudged him as hard as I dared, and his head lolled to the side.

A high-pitched whine rose from the back of my throat. I lifted my head, gathered gas in my throat, and spat a fireball into the sky. The white light outlined the bags under Hiccup's eyes and the scratches littering his body.

"Oh, gods," I whispered. "Oh gods, oh gods, oh gods—"

Behind me, the sound of something crashing through the undergrowth grew in intensity. I turned around just in time to see the King throwing himself through the dense woodland like a rampaging dragon.

He halted, took in the sight before him, and fell to his knees. In a mad rush, he grabbed Hiccup's paw in his own and placed the other on Hiccup's chest. I crouched low and stared at him with wide eyes.

"Please," I pleaded. "Please tell me you know what to do!"

The King waited—and then drooped in relief. He pushed Hiccup's fur back with a gentleness I thought him incapable of. Placing a light paw on Hiccup's chest, he called, "Hiccup? Can you hear me?"

No response.

"Gods…" The King whispered. "Hiccup…" He put his head in his paw, the same despairing motion that I had seen from Hiccup not even an hour ago.

Standing there doing _nothing_ tore away at me with vicious claws. I had to do _something!_ I threw myself down, preparing a healing spell I didn't know how to cast.

Just before making contact, my reason caught up to me and brought me to a stop. Hiccup's human body was far different from my own now, and I knew all too well that I was no healing-dragon. I could easily make any internal damage worse by blindly throwing magic at it—especially since I didn't know _where_ the injuries were and to what extent.

I was completely useless.

" _I-it is fine_ ," I stammered to Hiccup, pretending that he could hear me more for my own sanity than anything. " _It is fine!_ "

He didn't even twitch. I clenched my jaw and bowed my head, no longer capable of seeing him like this, like he was moments from...

 _No!_ Help was on its way. I just had to stay calm. It would be easy. Everything would be fine. Hiccup was breathing, he was alive, he wasn't going to die—he would _never_ leave me like that, not like this, not in such a pointless and heartless and impersonal manner, not when we had finally been finding hope in a world full of loss and…and…and—!

I couldn't see. I couldn't breathe. My heart ached as if I'd taken the blow myself.

The King clutched Hiccup to his chest. His shoulders shuddered and his breath hitched. "Please, gods…" he murmured. "Please, I—I didn't even—"

He stopped then, chest heaving. I almost began to hiss at him for moving Hiccup around so much.

Then I took a moment to process what he was doing, and reeled back and stared wide-eyed at Hiccup's father.

The King was weeping.

Shadows blotted out the moonlight overhead. I had barely looked up when the elder Hum-Wing tore through the canopy, took one look at Hiccup, and thumped down besides the King.

"Get on!" She commanded, throwing her head to her back.

The King stared at her—and then he leapt onto her shoulders. The moment he was settled, she was gone, using her magic to fly at dangerously-high speeds.

I was left alone.

Nausea twisted my stomach. I felt close to vomiting. I sat down, eyes unfocused, and fought for breath.

"N-no…" I wheezed. My limbs felt weighed down by an ocean's worth of pain and regret. I couldn't move, I couldn't see, I couldn't do _anything_ but sit there and be useless. "Great Dragoness of the Moon… _why?_ "

The moment of weakness was shameful—no matter how small it was. Hiccup neededhelp, needed _me_ , and here I was wasting precious time.

I forced myself to my feet, shaking off the shadows pinning me down. Closing my eyes, I took a deep breath and focused on the comforting and familiar smell of the forest.

I began to run.

With each step, my mind cleared further and as the fear and shock lost their grip. A burning rage ignited within my heart, sweeping over me like a great tidal wave.

How...how _dare_ they?

How dare those intruders swoop upon our territory, pick a dragon at random, and attempt to _kidnap_ them? How _dare_ they fling Hiccup to his death, not even bothering to _catch_ him when it was apparent that he was _falling!_ What kind of basic intelligence and respect for life did they lack to commit such a heartless, insensitive, _pointless_ atrocity?!

If nothing else, I was going to find those dragons who did this. And I would do everything in my power to make them spend what remained of their worthless, _pathetic_ lives regretting this night.

 **o.O.o**

The elders did what they could.

There was a long discussion over whether or not to utilize magic on Hiccup's body. In the past weeks, every elder in the nest had attempted magic reconstruction spells on him, and every elder had failed. His body was unreceptive, only taking up magic slightly before rejecting it. Just as a third transformation would be, the only choice would be to shove healing-magic into his body and hope for the best.

Needless to say, nobody wanted to try it. It was decided to wait until Hiccup was conscious enough to eat healing-leaves. Even though they had failed to restore his magic in the past, the elders hoped that they could at least prevent infection with them.

Hiccup was taken to a human elder's nest, occupied by the white-furred female whom had tended to him after the Queen's fall. Her nest was small and could only fit myself, the King, the elder human, and the elder Hum-Wing.

There we stood watch. The sun rose and bore with it bad news. A gray, elder Little-Biter had flown all across the island in search of answers, and when she came to report to me, her head was low and her spines were drooping.

"The lost fledgling has not been found," she rasped.

The elder Hum-Wing and I hung our heads. Then that truly meant that…

"May the Dragoness of the Moon guide her," the Hum-Wing moaned.

The Little-Biter and I repeated the prayer. We allowed a moment of silence to pass.

With a sigh, the Little-Biter lifted her eyes to mine. "I was only able to catch the scent of one of the intruders just where the King had been taken," she said. "I did not recognize it, but she was of another nest." She fluttered up to the platform Hiccup had been set on and nodded at his paws.

They were noticeably covered in wounds.

"I studied the area where he crashed," she said. "He did everything right. He must have slowed his fall by holding his legs out. The branches in the upper canopy are only partially-broken, which could only happen if he was not falling as fast as he should have been. As he fell, he must have held onto nearby branches for as long as he could—that is why these wounds are so long, and why the branches that _are_ broken are snapped at their bases rather than where his body would have fallen through them." She frowned. "It was enough to save his life. He broke his fall long enough so that when his body impacted the branch you found him on, he was not crushed by his own weight."

I ground my teeth and closed my eyes. I couldn't even begin to imagine how terrifying that must have been. To fall into darkness, for agony to close in from all sides, only for the entire world to come to a sudden and unforgiving stop. What had he been thinking in those final moments? Had he thought that he was going to die? Had he felt the pain of it? Had he seen the unavoidable branch coming up on him, knowing that he would crash into it?

I threw the horrible, morbid thoughts aside. What mattered was that Hiccup had survived.

"I see," the Hum-Wing mused. "Although I am surprised that he does not yet seem to be bleeding internally. An impact wound of that force surely would have broken his ribs."

The Little-Biter approached Hiccup and took in his scent. His chest was covered in deep, swollen bruises, visible around the fake furs that the human elder had wrapped around him.

The King watched her with half-lidded eyes and a bowed head. At first he had greeted every dragon who approached Hiccup with hope—but now he had realized what little we could do.

"It was undoubtedly painful," she growled. "There is much inflammation, but his ribcage seems merely bruised. I do not smell infection as well. Perhaps he had been limp when he crashed, or somehow slowed his fall more so than the evidence implies."

"Was there any other oddities nearby?"

The Little-Biter bared her teeth, staring into the past. "I did smell the intruders—but the trail was weak, and so I believe it was merely their scent rubbing off of him. The cowards openly fled when they were found and did not bother to catch him after they had dropped him."

I leaned in and pressed my forehead against Hiccup's. He was so, so cold. "I'm so sorry," I whispered. "If I had been there…"

"But you weren't," the Hum-Wing scolded. "Do not agonize yourself over hypotheticals, Savior."

They were talking as if he was not severely wounded—but clearly he _was._ I laid my head down besides Hiccup's. In a thin and small voice, I moaned, "Why isn't he waking up?"

"His body is not yet healed," the Hum-Wing soothed, giving me a gentle lick on the forehead like I was her hatchling. "And he is weakened by the stress he faces every day. His body must work twice as hard to heal because of it."

The Little-Biter let out a sad hum in agreement.

"All we can do is give him time, Savior."

 **o.O.o**

My sense of time was lost, sitting there in that wood-cave.

I refused to sleep, determined to keep watch over Hiccup until he awoke. I wasn't there for him when he had been taken, but I would be now. It was all I could do to make up for the shameful betrayal that I had inflicted upon him, leaving him at his most vulnerable and not even realizing the danger that I had left him in.

The sun set, casting the nest in darkness. With each passing moment my eyes grew heavier and my thoughts more scrambled. The day was _finally_ over, and I was falling alongside the sun, clawing with all of my might to stay but doomed to failure.

I betrayed Hiccup again.

I fell asleep as exhaustion overcame me, while he lied there and fought for his life.

 **o.O.o**

" _Toothless…?_ "

My eyes snapped open. I launched to my feet. The King jolted with shock.

Hiccup cracked a weary grin, squinting up at me.

Oh, Dragon of the Sun, he was awake. He was _awake!_

" _HICCUP!_ " I sobbed. Overcome with excitement, I threw myself at him and licked him several times until he gave a groan of complaint. I settled for burying my nose into his neck, gasping and laughing at the same time.

With a weak purr, Hiccup lifted one of his torn paws and held me close. I shifted even closer to him, rubbing my cheek against him to get the horrible smell of the intruders _off_ of him.

" _Me scared,_ " I whimpered. "I am _never_ leaving you alone in a dark forest again."

" _So-rry_ ," he said in a weak gasp, nosing me comfortingly.

When I opened my eyes, the King was staring. I stayed where I was, but still shifted around so that Hiccup could see his father.

Despite his trepidation, the King rushed forward, reached a paw out to Hiccup, and then drew it away at the last second. "Hiccup," he gasped. "Oh, thank Thor."

Hiccup blinked slowly, struggling to keep his eyes open. Still, he reached a paw towards his father.

The King took Hiccup's paw in his own, a relieved smile growing on his lips. "Son…I'm so sorry."

Hiccup smiled. "I'm just glad…to wake up," he wheezed. He closed his eyes. "Man, déjà vu…"

His breathing evened out.

We stayed there like that for hours. The fear that had been tormenting me flowed away, and I was finally able to relax, drawing comfort in Hiccup's presence and the steady sound of his heart.

The King adopted a deep, thoughtful expression, brooding as we waited. Like me, he was content with the silence.

Time passed. Flares continued to search, both for answers and now for the body of the lost Hum-Wing.

Nothing was found.

 **o.O.o**

Hiccup

Coming to was unbearably similar to the last time I had been in this position.

Toothless clutched to me like a frightened hatchling as Dad and Gothi spoke to each other. I should have been paying attention, but I was so dazed and confused and _exhausted_ that all I could manage was to wrap my paws around Toothless.

I couldn't see the sky or hear our nestmates in the hut. I wanted _out._

After several tries, I managed to wheeze, "Outside?"

Dad and Gothi stopped speaking abruptly.

"No," Dad said. "You need to rest."

Toothless growled something, leaping to my defense with a lot more vigor than normal. He pulled away and thrust his head in the direction that I assumed was the door.

Taking in a deep breath, I dug my fingers into the bed and pushed myself upright.

It _hurt._ White-hot spots burst across my eyes and my ears began to ring.

"Hiccup!" Dad scolded. In a much gentler tone, he said, "You've only just woken up again—give yourself a moment, alright?"

I shook my head. I had been somewhat-awake for only a few minutes, and I had already had enough of lying here with everyone hovering over me. It brought with it too many memories. It was too much like when I had first awoken into my human body, when I had first felt that searing and tormenting pain that had been making me more and more empty by the day.

Toothless pressed close to me, letting me lean on him. I pawed the blankets off of me and tried not to stare too hard at my prosthetic.

Dad stood up. "Hiccup, _stop_ ," he said in a commanding-yet-pleading tone. "You'll only make it worse— _agh!_ "

Gothi swatted him with her cane. Dad gave her an admonished look, throwing his hands up at her, and she merely shook her head.

With Toothless' support, I set my feet on the floor and stood up. A rush of nausea and white-hot pain erupted from my abdomen. I squeezed my eyes shut and forced myself to take deep breaths.

We walked to the door at such a slow and limping pace that it must have been minutes. At some point, Dad stepped over to my other side, prepared to catch me.

He opened the door, allowing the sun to shine in. Just outside were dozens of dragons.

All of them snapped to attention—and then began to bounce around, giving joyful calls and taking off in their excitement.

The sight filled me with energy. A small smile grew on my lips. I stood up straighter and, despite the pain, managed to walk faster.

I hadn't been outside for even a second before the elder Hum-Wing trotted over, dropped some slimy leaves in front of me, and nodded at me to eat them.

Aaand there went my hopeful mood. I grimaced and shifted unsteadily on my feet. I knew what _those_ were.

"Um…I think I'm fine," I said. My voice was dry and noticeably cracked, and I coughed to cover it up.

Toothless narrowed an eye at me. " _Eat!_ " He said urgently. He stooped down, picked up the leaves, and then shoved them at me. " _Magic. Help Hiccup!_ "

I held the healing-leaves in my hands, flicking my eyes around for an escape. There were several elder dragons in the crowd, much more composed than the others and waiting politely for me to eat the bitter, disgusting things. The rest of our nestmates were still bouncing around, ecstatic to see that I was up and also not dead.

Dad stepped outside, staring down at the healing-leaves with a raised eyebrow.

"Are those…a gift?" He asked, thoroughly confused.

"Um..." I pretended not to see Toothless' pressing glare. "Kind of?"

" _Hiccup._ " Toothless leaned in, the slightest bit of desperation shaking his voice. " _Eat now._ "

I knew that tone all too well; that was the "I'm about to sit on you" tone. Or, in this case, the "I'm about to force-feed you disgusting leaves that do nothing" tone. Which made no sense, because Toothless _had_ to know the healing-leaves probably wouldn't do anything.

He was still scared for me.

I shoved the leaves into my mouth, chewed them up enough so I wouldn't to choke on them, and swallowed. The sheer pungency of them invaded my mouth and nose, and I couldn't help but gag and pull a face.

 _Ugh._ Well, if I was tired before, I sure wasn't _now_.

"H-Hiccup?!" Dad spluttered.

The elders laughed. Many craned their necks and nosed me. I almost tried to thank them, but remembered that my father was standing right next to me. Instead, I smiled and nodded at them, butting heads with all who came close enough and holding down a purr.

Toothless thanked the elders, bowing to them. They returned the gesture and turned away, allowing us some space and shooing away our younger nestmates that didn't believe in personal space.

Once they were cleared out, everything became very still. The sun was high—it was midday. It was chilly, but almost comfortably so. I leaned into Toothless, and he purred and did the same.

Gothi's house was high up on a cliff, secluded from the rest of Berk. The only humans here were Dad and Gothi herself, who was kind enough to give privacy when it was needed and had opted to stay inside. Some nestmates were still fluttering around, trying to look nonchalant about it.

Dad was the first to break the silence. "Are you…are you hungry?"

"Not anymore," I grumbled to Toothless, who rolled his eyes. To Dad, I said, "Those leaves were medicine. They just taste really, _really_ awful."

"…ah," Dad said.

The gulls squawked, and the waves crashed below.

I looked at Toothless and then at Dad. He was staring at me, and the moment I met his eyes I looked away.

" _Ugh!_ " Toothless groaned, having already lost his patience with the sheer awkwardness. " _Us go!_ "

"Um…let's go?" I asked Dad.

He paused, frowning, and nodding.

I took a step forward.

Pain exploded across my midsection, forcing me to double-over with an agonized hiss. Both Dad and Toothless shot forward, rushing to support me. I flinched away from Dad and fell heavily on Toothless' neck.

When it had ended, I was shaking and exhausted. Maybe forcing myself to get out of bed the second I was awake wasn't the greatest idea.

"Y-you need to sit down," Dad stammered. "Here, let's go back inside."

That was the very _last_ place I wanted to be. It was too stuffy in there, and it was so small and claustrophobic that it made me feel trapped. I wanted to be outside, where I could see the sky and hear my nestmates and feel the wind rushing past me.

"No—here," I gasped. With Toothless' help, I limped over to the cliff Gothi's house was situated on. My legs gave out underneath me, and I all but crumpled to the ground just a few feet away from the edge. Toothless was quick to settle down beside me, dangling his front paws over the edge and wrapping his tail around me. I scooted close to him, and this time I _did_ let a small purr escape me.

Dad sat down on my other side, folding his hands in his lap and biting his lip.

My heart began to hammer. I stared at my hands and took in a deep breath.

"Dad—"

"Hiccup—"

"You go first," we both said.

We blinked at each other. Dad chuckled, shaking his head. I was surprised to find myself smiling—only for it to be wiped away at the following guilt.

"I'll go first." Dad's expression hardened, creased with worry and regret. His shoulders hunched and he looked at his hands, head hanging.

"I won't bother you with my excuses," He sighed—although he was so sullen it almost sounded like a moan. "It doesn't matter if I thought that I was helping, or that I thought I was guiding you along to help you heal. What matters is that I made everything worse. You were right—what you said earlier, just before that monster—that dragon took you…"

He clenched his fist, and a painful spike of nervous energy whisked through my chest. I forced myself not to curl up against Toothless as if he had bared his teeth and hissed at me.

"I'm sorry, Hiccup." He lifted his head to meet my eyes. "I'm so sorry that I was blind to how I was hurting you. I should have listened to you, or at least asked you what you wanted before acting. But instead I forced you to do as I said, thinking that it would eventually help you regain some sense of normalcy. A-and that was wrong, and I am _so sorry_ , Hiccup." His eyes drifted over my head. "And to you as well, Toothless."

Toothless let out surprised hum. I shared a look with him, caught off-guard to hear my father address him.

"I understand if you don't forgive me. I don't expect you to." Dad's jaw clenched, and he glared down at his hands. "Thor, I don't _deserve_ you to, not after I've done so little to actually _help_ you. But…but I do want to move forward." He straightened up and faced us, his eyes glossy. "I want to make things better, and on _your_ terms."

His voice shook, and suddenly he sounded so much smaller and uncertain. "I want you to feel _safe_ around me, son. I know…I know it's a horrible thing to say. I know I've done everything to deserve you hating me, but…Whatever it is, Hiccup—whatever it is that _you_ need, that _you_ want, please…"

He trailed off, giving me that distraught stare that he always did.

"I miss you, Hiccup."

The pain in my chest rose and rose.

"I don't hate you," I whispered.

Dad took in a sharp breath. "You…don't?"

The shock in his voice sent another torrent of guilt crashing into me. I looked away, my throat welling up and my heart hammering.

" _Good,_ " Toothless murmured encouragingly, nudging my shoulder.

It was enough for me to turn back towards my father and meet his eyes. I took in just how worn he looked; the dark bags under his eyes, the worry lines making him look twice his age, the deep guilt and sadness in his eyes.

"I don't. I…"

The words caught up in my throat. So many thoughts were racing through my head that I was at a loss for words. There was just so much—there was _too_ much—and it was all too real.

I clutched at my chest.

"Something's _wrong_ with me."

Toothless wrapped his tail around me tighter.

Ashamed by my weakness, I looked down at my human hands and my prosthetic foot. "I-I don't know why this keeps happening. I was fine at first, but it's just getting worse and worse and I don't know _why._ I want to move on, but I can't forget, no matter how hard I try. Even the littlest reminder will just…"

I shook my head. It was bad enough as it is, but actually _talking_ about everything made me feel all the more irrational and horrible. My heart burned, and the fresh wounds across my chest stung.

" _Go_ ," Toothless pressed. " _Talk good._ "

Tears were welling up in my eyes. I was short of breath, almost like I was choking on thin air. "It keeps coming back," I breathed. "The shadow. It's like I'm there again. In the shed or the cave or—or on the bridge and ships and the Kill Ring…I keep—I keep feeling like it's happening all over again, and I know it's not real, but it _feels_ real when it happens and—and I don't know how to make it stop! I know it won't happen again but…"

I couldn't bear to look at my father.

"…but you tried to killme so many times…"

Rubbing at my eyes, I turned my head away. With a small whimper, Toothless held me even closer.

The winds swept past and the gulls cried.

"Gods…" Dad murmured.

Somehow, I found the strength to look up at him. He was pale, reeling back like I'd just twisted around and snarled at him for all I was worth. His eyes were glossy, his mouth half-parted in horror.

" _Why?_ " I blurted. The tears finally welled over, trailing hot streaks down my face. "I don't know how many—how many times I _showed_ you it was me, and you just…you…you never _listened!_ "

Toothless began licking at my face, purring small comforts. I wrapped my arms around his neck, clutching to him like he was the only thing keeping me here.

Dad lifted his hand towards me only to pull it away. Instead he reached up and took his helmet off, grasping it in his hands as tightly as I was holding onto Toothless.

"Hiccup…" Dad said, his voice shaking with regret. "I don't…what's the point of saying why?"

There was none—I knew that. I knew that it would only rip open these scarcely-healed wounds. I knew that it would only add one _more_ thing for me to constantly think about, to consume my thoughts and fill the nightmares that plagued me each night.

I couldn't respond, heaving and shaking my head. Toothless held me close with the crook of his wing. He grunted and threw his head.

Dad looked torn—but he hung his head submissively.

"You're right. You deserve to know."

He started to speak only to stop, giving me that long, pitying look that I had come to despise.

"I thought…I thought that it was some monster taken over your body," he murmured. "I thought that you were dead, but trapped here in this mortal world in the body of the very thing that killed you. That it was some cruel trick of the gods, to have it pretend to be like you."

He focused on the helmet—and then flung it aside, where it clattered away.

"I let myself become consumed with hatred. Hatred at the gods, at the dragons, at the monster that I thought had taken you from me, that was tormenting me by acting like you." His voice broke, and he put his head in his hands. "But I was _wrong._ It _was_ you, and with each sign, I pushed back harder—because it would mean that you were still there, that you were suffering, and I..."

Dad took in a long, shuddering breath, struggling to compose himself.

"I was a fool, and you paid the price for it when you needed me the most, and not a _day_ goes by that I don't curse myself to Hel for it. Men like me do not deserve a place in Valhalla." He dropped his voice. "Men like me do not deserve forgiveness. I'm sorry, son.

"I am so sorry that even to this day, I am still failing you."

My heart burned. I was shaking and lightheaded. I couldn't see, my eyes were so blurred with tears.

I pushed myself upright and blindly reached out.

There was a pause—and then two huge, warm arms wrapped around me and pulled me in.

I froze. It took several second's worth of processing to figure out what had happened.

Dad was…hugging me? He hadn't done that since…since…

...since Mom died.

Closing my eyes, I leaned into him—not quite ready to return the gesture—and struggled to control my tears. "I'm sorry I—I've been avoiding you," I hiccupped.

"Oh, son…" Dad's voice trembled, and he hugged me tighter.

"I gave you no other choice."


	7. Chapter 7

**Hello, everyone!**

 **It's been a crazy two weeks for me...already had my first exam and everything, but I did well! I'm very excited to have a break and be able to upload.**

 **I'd like to thank** **Laluzi, Blindhawk, Brave She-Elf, HawkTooth, Elt-1080, Greathron, Blocksmasher2, Anonymous Noob the 2nd, vampireharry the 2, Firesgone, Siganna, CrisDLZ, TheFuriousNightFury, Zeklyn, MisstyX0007, gaylord420, Varghul, Flopy, Nacktgranate, DevoutRelic, xSkiesOfBlue11, Lightwavers, Nitroexpress, InnerFlame7, Brenne, dynanskenjin, NightShadow9558, Crysist, and all anonymous reviewers for your comments and critiques! As always, I'd like to thank my beta Crysist for all of your help as well!**

 **Comments and critiques are always welcome! I hope you all enjoy, and have a wonderful day!**

* * *

 **Chapter 7**

Hiccup

 _What could we do, if we couldn't fly?_

Fall.

We would only ever be able to fall.

The thought weighed me down as the days passed, filling me with a sense of unease and incompleteness—leaving in its wake just as much an empty space as my prosthetic leg did.

A week went by, each day blurring seamlessly into the next. Both Toothless and Dad endlessly pestered me to take it easy. My wounds began to heal, and soon I was able to walk around without needing too much support.

Each sting of pain was a reminder of that night. Of me giving up, of the heart-stopping free-fall into blackness, of the horrible feeling of knowing I was going to die.

It was my fault. Dad and Toothless disagreed with me, but I had given up.

My only option was to move forward. I had to keep going, because if I sat around and wallowed in it for too long, it would consume me.

The thought sent a shudder through me. I didn't want to think about it anymore, mulling over it until it wore me down. I had to keep working. I had to keep trying.

Especially because...

I glanced over from my schematics and leatherwork at Dad. He was standing off to the side and speaking with Gobber, sending a glance my way every once and awhile like he thought that I would leave.

Ever since we had finally talked, he hadn't let me out of his sights. It was like any moment now, another intruding dragon would swoop down and carry me off. Which…wasn't too much of a stretch, considering that the intruders had come out of _nowhere._

Dad being nearby didn't scare me as much as I thought it would. He always kept his distance, never approaching without checking with me first. He took every measure to exert an air of gentleness around Toothless and me, making every movement intentional and non-threatening.

This lifted tension between us I hadn't even realized was there—Dad acknowledging that he was genuinely _scary_ to be around and taking steps to fix it. He was trying to be more understanding, he wasn't going on about "getting back to normal" anymore, he wasn't forcing us to go to the forge. He was mostly just...there.

Dad sticking around all the time threw weak ropes over a gap I'd almost forgotten was there. In the past weeks, we'd almost completely stopped talking to each other unless we were forced to—well, unless _Dad_ forced me to. But now that break between us was less daunting, and we could just...chat.

It wasn't the draining, emotional conversations about our feelings or how awful our lives were, but just _stuff_. Day-to-day activities, the weather, dragon culture, what's for dinner, anything. It was painfully awkward sometimes, since it was really just small talk. Still, once I had gotten accustomed to constantly talking to my father, I actually started to miss it when we went for long stretches without saying a word.

It wasn't a magical fix. It didn't stop the fear completely. There were still times when Toothless and I had to sneak off for an escape. There were still times when Dad raised his voice, or made a sudden movement towards me, or tried to touch me. There were still moments where he made it blatantly obvious that he _did not_ like how dragon I still was.

But it was a start.

Dad was trying to fix things between us— _had_ been trying for weeks now. It was time that I did, too. I wouldn't get better if I didn't, even if I had to throw myself out of my comfort zone. Which led me straight to the _one_ place I'd never thought I'd want to go back to.

With everything that had happened, I'd returned to the smithy not because I was being dragged by my tail there, but because I actually _wanted_ to.

I had been toiling away at such a frustratingly-slow pace that I'd almost considered giving up on my projects. My hands were still clumsy, and fine-tuning anything could take hours when it used to only take a few minutes. Many sleepless nights had been spent here, slumped against my workbench, measuring and scribbling and scrapping ideas in the dim firelight with Toothless watching at my side.

It was _so_ frustrating how slow I was, how even the simplest things were now a challenge. Sometimes I would catch a stupid mistake and have to spend hours correcting it. Or sometimes I would have to focus so hard on making sure my fingers moved the _right_ way that my head would throb.

The only thing keeping me going was blind stubbornness, the drive to do _something_ other than sit around and wait to see if anything worse would happen. It was crazy and it probably wouldn't work, but actually doingsomething about all of our problems gave me the drive to keep trying. It was far from perfect—but so was I, and at least I was trying. I wasn't going to let myself be useless anymore.

I wasn't going to stand back while intruders invaded our territory and little fledglings were lost at sea.

My hand jerked uncontrollably to the side, knocking a pencil to the ground. Toothless got it for me, set it down on my bench, and narrowed his eyes suspiciously.

" _What this?_ " He exclaimed for the fifth time that day, pointing the human way at my work. " _Need know!_ "

" _Need wait_ ," I teased in dragon. Then, remembering Dad and Gobber were right there, "I told you, it's a surprise. Also, I'm not sure I'll even be able to _do_ it…"

"Hmf!" Toothless tutted. " _Hiccup good and smart._ _Toothless certain this good!_ "

"Aw, thanks," I said. "I'm still not telling you."

" _Hic-cup!_ " Toothless whined like a fledgling being told to go to sleep, complete with lying down and rolling around. " _Speak Toothless! Very important!"_

" _No!_ " I laughed. "Besides, I'm almost done with this one anyways."

"Are ya now?" Gobber interrupted. He peered over at my cluttered desk. "Then I suppose you'll actually start workin' on our orders after yer little heart project? We only have so much leather, ya know!"

"Didn't you buy some more from Trader Johann?" Dad piped up from halfway across the room.

"Sure did!" Gobber said. "Not the point! When are ya goin' ta show us what this thing here really is?"

I grimaced. I'd wanted it to be a secret from them—but that was almost impossible, considering that Gobber practically lived at the smithy and Dad was shadowing me everywhere.

"I'm still not sure," I said, trying to cover up my schematics and the leather with a sore hand. "It's hard to say, since I've been so slow at it."

"You've still done very well, Hiccup," Dad said. "You've adjusted much faster than I thought you would."

I ducked my head, a light blush rising to my cheeks. "Uh, thanks. Just kinda doing my best."

"And apparently using up all the leather," Dad said in a trying-to-joke tone of voice.

"Heh. Yeah…" I glanced at Gobber and pretended not to see his unamused look. "At least it's for a good cause?"

"Which is…?" Dad pressed.

"Uh...you'll see?" I said—although I almost didn't want him to. I had a feeling he wouldn't be as supportive if he knew what I was working on and _why_ I was doing it in the first place.

Toothless groaned, throwing his head back in the most dramatic way possible. " _Need know!_ "

"Well...Toothless looks like...he wants to know?" Dad almost asked, struggling to keep the conversation going.

"Yeah, well, Toothless can wait until I'm done," I said, grinning at my brother as he sent me a glare.

"Then fer the sake of all of us, get workin'!" Gobber interjected. "I noticed ya even managed to sew earlier this mornin'. Keep it up!"

He offered me a hearty slap on the back and tottered away. I winced, and Toothless sat up straighter and sent him a look.

"By the way, Stoick, got any messenger pigeons this mornin'?" Gobber drawled.

There was a short silence as Dad and I shared a confused look.

"...what?" Dad asked. "No, why?"

" _Really?_ " Gobber drew the word out. "No threats? No demands for us to send our _finest_ diplomats to other islands?"

"Ah, I see," Dad said. "No. I've not heard word from the Bog Burglars or any other tribe regarding dragon raids. Not since the note we received from Trader Johann."

"Hah!" Gobber laughed. "So they were all bark and no bite, eh? Well, can't say I'm surprised…"

Gobber glanced over and caught me slacking off.

"Well, are ya gonna work or not?!" He demanded. "The longer ya wait, the longer I have to finish all of this work on my own!"

"Uh, r-right!" I said, sitting up straighter. I shifted around in my seat and blinked down at my work. What had I been doing last again?

Toothless tried to nose underneath it—he knew I was hiding something there, too. With a playful hiss, I poked his nose until he retreated.

" _Toothless need know_ ," he grumbled, like _not_ knowing was killing him.

" _Soon_ ," I murmured. A small frown settled on my lips. "Or, at least, I hope."

 **o.O.o**

It turned out that "soon" was actually "two days". I guess that wasn't too bad, all things considered.

"So...dragons don't like being named?" Dad clarified, sitting a small distance away from me and eyes bright with confusion and interest. The firelight from our candles flickered, casting long shadows into the twilight darkness of the forge.

"Well, not exactly," I said without looking up, focusing almost all of my concentration on my needle. "It's more like...you have to _earn_ your name by doing something important. So it's a big respect thing, like how older dragons are much more respected than younger dragons."

"What did you do to get 'Toothless'?"

I looked up just in time to see Toothless roll his eyes and point at me the human way. I actually let out a small laugh.

"Oh, that was me," I said. "He really hated it at first. Always going on about how he wasn't toothless and then calling me things like 'freckles' and 'browny' and 'shorty' and 'lazy'."

" _Lazy?_ " Dad repeated in disbelief.

"Toothless thinks you should be wide awake at the crack of dawn," I said, sending him a fake glare. "Sleep is for the weak, apparently."

" _No, Hiccup need sleep_ ," Toothless grumbled.

"Uhuh, _now_ you change your mind," I whined.

Toothless quirked a brow, wrapping his tail nice and neat around his paws.

Dad flicked his eyes between us, biting his lip. A short, awkward silence passed. I readjusted my grip on the needle, trying to keep it still and the thread from tangling in my shaking hands.

"So...do they call him...do they call you 'Toothless'?" Dad asked. "The dragons?"

Toothless shook his head. " _No._ "

"They have their own name for us," I said "They call us Saviors. It means—ah, shoot."

The needle dropped to the floor with a small _tink._ I sighed, easing myself over to get it.

Lightning crackled through my body. My hands flew to my abdomen, and I couldn't hold down a pained hiss.

" _Hiccup?_ " Toothless yelped. He rushed over, sniffing at me and humming anxiously.

"I'm fine—just sore," I eased, leaning against him. "Really."

Toothless wasn't buying it—but before he could say anything, Dad stood up.

"Here—let me help," He said. He took a step forward, then stopped himself. "Or… do you mind…?"

I nodded, and he made his way through the cramped hall to stoop down and pick up the needle. The small work area became even smaller, cramped and dark and claustrophobic. Dad offered the needle to me, looming overhead in the dim candlelight.

I hesitated a second too long, my heart skipping a beat as the feeling of being trapped bore down on me.

A sad kind of resignation made his eager expression drop. His shoulders slumped.

Guilt swept through me. I forced myself to reach out to him, even as my hand shook like I hadn't eaten in days. Our hands brushed together, and I flinched away completely on impulse.

Dad did a good job at hiding the pain this caused him, brushing himself off and shuffling back to his seat. Toothless pressed close to me. I focused my eyes on the needle and leatherwork.

"...sorry," I finally managed to get out, trying and failing to keep my frustration from turning my voice sharp.

"No, Hiccup," Dad said, although he sounded forlorn. "It's fine."

I sighed, fiddling around with the needle and glancing at him with the corner of my eye. "Alright."

"Alright," Dad said.

More silence. Toothless groaned with exasperation.

"So...they call you two...'Saviors'?" Dad tried.

I nodded, working the needle back into place. "Yeah. It's because of the whole...Queen thing. And the soulfire—I mean, the glowing thing that...happened."

"I've always wondered about that," Dad murmured. He straightened up, awkwardness gone. "What was that, anyways? I've never seen dragons glow like that, no less lose their shot limit."

My hand was so stiff and tense that I couldn't even sew. I took a deep breath. _Gods, Hiccup, relax._

Toothless nosed my shoulder. The tension locking me in place eased somewhat.

"Soulfire is a form of magic called soul-magic," I explained, forcing the needlework along. "We don't really know much about it. All we know is that it can only be given to you by the gods. Like, a dragon can't just learn it on their own—they need a god to show them or another dragon who knows it to show them. So that means you have to be careful when you use it, because it's the fire of the gods and not just your regular, run-of-the-mill magic. If you abuse it..."

I thought of the tale of Sphere and shook my head.

"It's from the gods?" Dad repeated. "Which ones? Glöð? Logi?"

" _What?_ " Toothless said incredulously.

"Well...none of _those_ gods," I stammered, glancing nervously up at Dad. "I meant...well...you remember what I told you about the dragon gods, right?"

He nodded uncertainly. "The...Sunshine Dragon and Moonshine Dragon?"

Toothless was _not_ having that, and corrected vehemently, " _Dragon of the Sun! Dragoness of the Moon! Stupid!_ "

I pressed against him with a soft purr, and he calmed down enough to _not_ yell at my father. " _Anyways_ , it's _their_ magic," I ground out, trying to push the conversation along. I finished my stitch, and began the whole new struggle of tying it in place.

Dad took my explanation in with an odd kind of expression. He'd seen it with his own eyes, he knew it was real, and yet he still looked disbelieving.

"...Hiccup," he eventually said, worried now. "You...still believe in our gods, right? In Valhalla?"

The string knotted into place. I froze like prey, like if I held completely still, then I could avoid the question and all of its implications altogether.

" _No!_ " Toothless grunted dismissively. " _Stupid human._ "

"Hiccup?" Dad pressed, the tension in his voice rising.

"U-uh—" I stuttered. "Well…I...I literally _met_ them, Dad, and…"

And I'd always felt the Norse gods hated me, that they enjoyed watching me suffer. In my time wrapped up in the Queen's shadow, I'd found empathy and comfort in the Dragon of the Sun and Dragoness of the Moon.

One look at Dad's shell-shocked, saddened eyes, and I didn't dare say it to him.

 _RING! RING! RING! RING!_

All three of us yelped and jumped in place. The needle dropped to the floor.

The bell of Town Hall. It was ringing. It had a lamentful echo, like it was chiming in on the tense conversation here in the forge.

I went completely rigid, staring out the window into the bleak darkness. The bell ringing at this time of night wasn't exactly good news. My heart hammered as my mind flew through possibilities, each one more worse and apocalyptic as the last.

Dad had stood up the moment he'd heard the bells, staring out the window with a stern glare. "Don't worry," he said, no longer my worried father but the Chief of Berk. "I'll go see what's happened. Stay here until we know it's safe."

Toothless and I looked at each other. Toothless had his jaw set and ears drawn back in defiance; now he wanted to leave _specifically_ because Dad told us not to. The pressing conversation on religion probably wasn't doing Dad any favors as well.

"Um…" I said.

Dad sighed. "Just...don't wander off too far. You're still injured, Hiccup."

I certainly didn't need any reminders. "Alright," I said. I started to speak up, only to hesitate. I wanted to say something before he left. Not apologize, but to reach out to him in _some way._

"Alright," Dad said. He swiveled around, stumbling through the dark forge as he tried to make it to the door.

"Dad—" I stopped him. "I…"

Even in the shadowy forge, the candlelight still shone bright enough for me to see his small, sad grin. "Don't worry," he said again. "I...I can see why you...if that makes you happy, Hiccup, then..." He grimaced for a short moment, shuffled around, and steadied himself. "But, anyways. I still want you to stay here. Alright?"

I was too busy rearing in shock to respond right away. "A-alright."

He wasted no more time, sprinting out of the forge and down the road towards the docks. Toothless and I poked our heads out the window, leaning out almost completely into the street to watch him go. In the darkness of dusk, it didn't take too long for him to disappear.

The _second_ he was out of sight, Toothless said, " _Us go there._ "

I didn't say anything, frowning into the darkness my father had sprinted into. "Was that the right thing to say?" I murmured. "What if it's something bad, and that's the last thing we ever talk about, or…"

" _It is fine_ ," my brother purred, pulling his wing over me as if it shield me. " _That talk…_ " He shook his head. " _Very hard."_

I peered into the streets as the bell rang. "Yeah," I eventually got out. "Definitely not how I wanted to break the news to him."

Toothless tried to hide it, but he drooped with relief. " _Yes! Ah, yes_ ," he corrected himself in as neutral a tone he could, clearing his throat for good measure. " _Father good. Toothless surprised._ "

" _Me too,_ " I tried to say. The very idea made guilt curl through me. Time and time again, I always caught myself assuming the worst of Dad. The simplest kind or understanding acts caught me off-guard.

I was such an idiot.

I didn't want to talk about this anymore. I couldn't let myself get stuck in this loop. In a not-so-subtle change of subject, I said, "But...you're right. We should go. We can't just stand around in here and wait, and this is almost done, anyways."

Toothless perked up. " _What?!_ " He gasped. " _You speak? Toothless know?_ " He began nudging my paws towards my leatherwork. "Yes! _Many sun no Toothless know! Toothless very very interested!_ _Why surprise?_ "

I began to struggle to my feet, trying to say the word for "because". Even _I_ could tell that it came out garbled and wrong.

" _No certain_ ," I tried instead.

" _Certain_ ," Toothless corrected slowly, pressing close so that I could lean on him.

" _C-e-r-t-a-i-n_ ," I repeated.

Toothless nodded exuberantly. I grinned, a lightness filling my chest even as the ringing went on and villagers were drawn outside.

" _No certain good_ ," I went on. Hours and hours and _hours_ had been spent slaving over my projects. Now that they were almost done, it was a little scary to think that it might have all been for nothing. That I had just screwed up again.

" _Stupid_ ," Toothless scolded. " _Me certain this good. Hiccup here many sun and moon._ "

I focused back out the window, at the occasional villager who rushed past to see what was happening. " _Need work_ ," I mumbled. I eased up onto his shoulders, wincing at the ache and sting of my abdomen.

" _Work,_ " Toothless sounded out as he boosted me up.

" _Work?_ "

" _No, w-o-r-k!_ "

" _...work?"_

" _Hiccup speak like fledgling!_ " Toothless teased, trying to cheer me up.

Something heavy hit the roof hard, sending vibrations rattling throughout the entire building.

A dragon popped their head in through the window—the young, excitable Flame-Skin that had been part of our original flare. His eyes were wide, and he was so out of breath that he could barely get any words out.

I heard the word for " _human_ " or " _dragon_ ", and he threw his head in the direction Dad had gone in as he said it.

" _Human there,_ " Toothless translated for me, pinning his ears and growling. " _No Berk nest, no Berk human._ "

My heart dropped to my chest, even though it was something that I had expected, that I had almost been waiting to happen for days now. Now that it was real, I was all too aware of how unprepared I was.

"Oh, no," I breathed.

" _Us go?_ " Toothless asked, shifting uneasily. He bared his teeth in the general direction of the docks, tail swishing back and forth.

"Yeah," I said. "A-and also, we need to tell our nestmates to stay clear—we don't want any of them down there."

" _Yes_ ," Toothless agreed. He turned to the excitable Flame-Skin and relayed the order.

The Flame-Skin's eyes widened in fear. He chirped nervously in understanding, bowed, and darted into the deepening night sky. A few seconds later, and he let out a booming leading call.

Toothless started to turn around to leave, but my eyes fixated on my work. On impulse, I snapped a paw out and grabbed my leatherwork just before I lost my chance.

We darted out of the smithy as our nestmates fled in the opposite direction. Several saw us and banked to join us, and it was all we could do to wave them off to safety. After the incident with the lost fledgling, where we had failed as their leaders, it was the least we could do.

The village swept by in a dark blur, making it seem completely empty save for the hollow, foreboding song of the bells.

 **o.O.o**

At a glance, the docks looked seconds from being overtaken.

Firelight glinted off the sickly-black waves. Moonlit ocean spray crashed high, threatening to overtake the ships entering the bay.

I saw the insignias on their sails and took in a sharp, pained breath. A world long-since lost overtook my senses. I could feel my wings, my tail, my claws, my fire—I could hear the screams, smell the blood, taste the charcoal and smoke in the air.

" _Hiccup?_ " Toothless crooned, drawing me out of my stupor. He twisted around to get a better view of me. " _It is fine._ "

" _Y-yes_ ," I said. I sat up straighter and inhaled deeply. " _It is fine_ ," I repeated, like if I said it then it would come true. " _It is fine._ "

" _Hiccup okay. Toothless here._ " Toothless pressed up against me as best as he could. " _Toothless_ always _here._ "

" _Love_ ," I hummed.

We took a moment.

Then we slunk off into the shadows, creeping along the western edges of the buildings to keep out of the dim moonlight. Ever-so-slowly, Toothless stalked closer and closer to the sheer cliff that lead down to the docks.

I spotted a relatively-empty area away from the houses. Chirping a short leading call, I pointed with my nose. Toothless followed my gaze and slid to the ground, crawling over the grass so that he was less noticeable. We stopped just at the edge of the cliff and leaned over it, taking in the other tribes' ships.

To come in the middle of the night without sending word was already a bad sign. There was scarcely any firelight—also a bad sign. That meant that they were trying to keep their night vision undulled. Without fire, their sight would be more adjusted to the dark—meaning that it would be easier to spot enemies.

…or dragons.

A rush of relief went through me that the young Flame-Skin had warned us in time. It was hard to tell whether the people on the ships had seen our nestmates, but they definitely wouldn't now.

I could also make out the little pinpricks of torches from the people of Berk climbing down to the docks, and the vague shapes of other humans on board the ships. Some ships had large masses on them, but besides that, I couldn't make them out.

" _What see?_ " I asked Toothless.

" _Human_ ," he growled. " _Many, many human. Many weapon. Very strange…_ " He waved his paw in a short circle, a habit he'd picked up from me. " _No word. There, big and strange._ "

" _Yes, me see_ ," I whispered. " _See father?_ "

A pause, and then, " _Yes. Speak human. No weapon._ "

I gave a small sigh of relief. Toothless checked further down the cliff, gave a soft warning, and leapt a small ways down to an outcropping. Just before landing, he opened his wings and flapped to soften the impact. The jolt still sent pain zipping through me, but it was tolerable.

Three more times we slipped down the cliffside, stopping and waiting long moments to avoid catching attention. By the third jump, we were a little under halfway down the cliff, close to the sea stacks that rose from the ocean around Berk. Toothless bundled his legs up, opened his wings, and launched himself at them as silently and quickly as he could.

We landed hard. I hissed as pain shot through my abdomen and I lurched to the side, nearly slipping off of Toothless.

" _Sorry!_ " Toothless gasped, his eyes huge with horror and ears and side-frills pinned. " _No know—sorry!_ "

" _It is fine_ ," I groaned. I righted myself, pressing myself closer to him to hang on tighter. " _Hear father?_ "

Toothless hummed, perking his ears and facing towards the ships.

The docks were fuller now. It was now easy to make out the forms of humans, even those without torches. There were seven intruding ships in total.

Three had catapults on them.

The sight made my breath hitch. They were primed, already loaded and set to fire. They were the objects that Toothless hadn't had the word for.

" _No hear,_ " Toothless whispered. He half-opened his wings and looked over his shoulder. " _Ready?_ "

I nodded. Toothless leapt onto another sea stack, slipped, and bore his claws into its side. My entire body jolted, and I bit back a pained yelp and held on tighter. With a curse, Toothless scrambled up onto its peak.

Spots filled my vision from the pain of moving around so much. I wheezed and clutched at my stomach, and Toothless murmured hushed apologies to me for jostling around so much. I waved him off and pointed back down at the docks.

This stack was much lower than the others, bringing us close enough even for _me_ to hear people talking. There was also an odd humming sound, like a kind of buzzing.

It was almost familiar.

Now that we were so low and more people had brought torches with them, it only took me a few seconds to glance around and find Dad. He had intercepted the only ship that had dared to come close enough to anchor at our docks. He wasn't wielding any weapons. He had his arms crossed and was speaking to the captain of the ship, who had yet to lay down any planks to get onto Berk.

" _Who?_ " Toothless asked. " _Father upset. Human scared._ "

I forced myself to look at the insignias, although I didn't really have to at this point. "The Bog Burglars," I whispered. "The ones who think we're causing the raids."

Toothless bared his teeth and growled. " _Stupid human._ "

Dad and the captain continued to speak. The captain looked a lot more angry than she was scared, raising her voice and throwing her arms around. Every now and then, her crewmates would pipe up to agree with her.

Dad didn't budge under the peer pressure, leering at the outsiders. I could just barely hear him speaking—he was making sure to keep his voice low so that he would appear calm and cool.

" _Want here_ ," Toothless explained. " _Need help. Dragon attack home. Think us._ "

"Need help, or _demanding_ help?" I asked. The Norse felt unnatural rolling off my tongue.

" _That_ ," he growled. " _Father no want. Hm, that good._ "

Dad took a few steps back. The captain turned and shouted to her crew to set their anchors down, and at the same time, one of her crewmates grabbed a plank and dropped it right onto our docks.

The Bog Burglars stepped onto Berk, weapons holstered and eyes narrowed in suspicion.

"… _oh. Ah, bad_ ," Toothless muttered. " _Why here? Why no go?_ "

I hummed in confusion, watching as the ships were brought in and docked in any place they could. One by one, each crew stepped onto Berk's docks and made their way towards the village, escorted by twice as many of Berk's warriors.

I sucked in a deep breath I hadn't realized I was holding. They weren't here to fight. They weren't attacking us. We were safe, for now.

The docks were almost silent now; the Bog Burglars had all been taken up towards Berk, most likely to stay the night in Town Hall where they could be closely watched. Our surroundings, once bustling and full of brilliant firelight, were now empty and dark. The ships creaked and moaned. The ocean's inky waters churned beneath them.

That strange humming was still there. I squinted at the sails of the Bog Burglar's ship, trying to find which one was catching in the wind to make such a weird sound.

All of them were closed.

" _Hear that?_ " I asked, tipping my head back and forth. What _was_ it?

" _T-h-a-t_ ," Toothless corrected automatically. Just like me, he tilted his head to try and find the source. " _And yes. Strange. Like me know, and no me know?_ _Us see?_ "

I hummed in agreement. Toothless opened his wings and lifted off of the sea stack, gliding the short distance down to the docks. He went out of his way to flap several times to cushion our landing, even though it made a _lot_ of noise.

We crept along the isolated walkways, keeping our attention trained on the ships. I sniffed at the air but could only catch the saltiness of the ocean. The sound seemed to be coming from all directions, and yet nowhere. Unease filled me as my senses failed me, leaving me blind and deaf and vulnerable.

Toothless picked a random ship to investigate and hesitated at the plank.

" _Toothless?_ " I crooned.

"… _no like,_ " he admitted. Hanging his head, he said with barely-masked fear, " _These always bad._ "

" _It is fine_ ," I soothed, hugging him and purring. " _No need go._ "

" _Oh, us go!_ " Toothless said defiantly, puffing his chest up. He stepped shakily onto the plank with his head high, and I couldn't hold back an eyeroll.

We climbed aboard and found a whole lot of nothing.

" _What these?_ " Toothless asked, nosing something on the ground.

I leaned over, holding my side to try and dull the pain. "Oars. They move the ship." Looking around the deck, I frowned when I saw that that was _all_ that was aboard. This ship was a simple, flat longboat.

However, the captain's ship a little further off _did_ have a large enough hull to have a cabin below, considering how big and tall it was. I spared a short moment to wonder _why_ they had such a big, expensive ship. It looked more like what Trader Johann traveled with than a warship. If they were as low on resources as Dad made them out to be, there was no way they could have made one themselves…right?

" _There?_ " I pointed.

Toothless nodded. He crouched and opened his wings, bracing himself to leap to the next ship over—and then stopped himself. " _Ah, sorry!_ "

" _Stupid_ ," I teased as he took the "human way" off the ship, walking down the plank and across the dock.

Now that the ships seemed safe and even boring, Toothless was much more confident. He stepped right onto the captain's ship like he owned it. This ship had two sails and an elevated spying platform, with holes on the port and starboard for men below-deck to oar.

The humming was louder now. It had a sad, empty quality to it—it reminded me of the bell on Town Hall.

Toothless nearly put his nose to the deck, his ears and side-frills twitching.

" _There?_ " I wondered.

Toothless didn't respond.

" _Toothless?_ " I asked, leaning over to look at his face.

He was staring, transfixed, at the deck. I grabbed hold of one of his side-frills. He jolted in place and snapped his head over at me.

" _S-sorry_ ," he stammered, and the shaken way he said it whisked away any sense of safety I'd managed to scrounge together.

"What's wrong?" I demanded, abandoning speaking in dragon for more clarity. "Are you okay?"

" _Yes_ ," he said slowly, narrowing his eyes below. Baring his teeth, he growled, " _No like. Me no know this. Like Queen, and no like Queen. This bad!_ "

I stiffened. "The Queen…?"

Closing my eyes, I reached inside myself again in desperate search of my magic. As always, I came upon an empty husk, a shell of what had once been full of life and light, a broken link. It was pure nothingness and incompleteness. It was a giant hole inside me, sucking me away bit by bit.

There was no shadow. I relaxed a bit.

"No, it can't be the Queen," I reminded the both of us. "She's dead. We _watched_ her die."

Toothless growled. " _Me do not know…_ " He began wandering around the deck, sniffing at the ground and perking his ears.

The humming was ever-present. What had once been something that only piqued my interest was now sinister, and I bared my teeth in a silent growl.

I didn't know what it was, but I wanted it _off_ of our island.

" _There_ ," I said, pointing at a door that had to lead below deck. Toothless stomped over to it and, with a single swing, smashed the door in. " _Toothless!_ "

" _What? Hiccup no like sound and human_ ," he snickered.

"Oh, Dragoness of the Moon," I moaned.

Toothless poked his head in and sniffed. His entire body tensed and he flared his wings.

" _Dragon!_ " He cried. " _Dragon here!_ "

I sat up straight and rigid, my heart picking up painfully in my chest.

But…but _why? Why_ would there be dragons below deck? Why would the tribe that was demanding that we get _rid_ of the dragons capture them and keep them close?

It didn't matter. They would be free soon anyways—we would make sure of that.

Toothless called out to them in normal dragon: a hushed greeting followed by a question, asking them if they were alright.

No voices rose to meet him. The humming surrounding us continued undisturbed.

That…made it worse. We shared a confused, frightened look, and the both of us steeled ourselves. Toothless stepped into the cramped, dark doorway.

"What is that?!"

We froze. Toothless muttered an obscenity.

Ever so slowly, we twisted around—and were met with the sight of two men whom I did not recognize. One was wielding an axe, and the other a bow and arrow. Even in the dim light, both of them were shaking with huge, terrified eyes.

They took us in. Realization seemed to dawn on them.

"N-N-Night Fury," one stammered, his voice rising in panic. "I-it's a N-Night Fury, it's really a Night Fury!"

" _Go, go, go!_ " I hissed to Toothless, who had steadied into a battle stance.

He used his crouched position to his advantage and leaped straight up. By the time he landed on the second sail and clambered up it, the men were shouting for help. More voices began to ring around the docks. My old injuries burned to life, but still I whipped my head around to try and figure out what was happening.

For some reason, some of the Bog Burglars had returned to their ships…only to witness us snooping around on them.

"Not good," I muttered, finding it harder and harder to breathe as reality set in. "We gotta—"

"KILL IT!" A man screamed. "Kill it, before it curses us!"

Toothless yelped and leapt off of the ship just as an arrow whizzed overhead. He glided and slammed into the top of the sail on the adjacent ship, making it rock back and forth so violently that it nearly capsized. I cried out as agony tore through my midsection, nearly losing my grip and falling.

More arrows flew overhead. Toothless gave a sharp whine as one struck him, but kept bouncing from sail to sail as fast as he could. In just a few seconds, he had reached the sea stacks and launched onto one, just barely missing the top and scurrying onto it.

I struggled to breathe as each sudden movement sent a wave of pain into my body. The shouting was rising in volume, the sound of arrows being strung and let loose becoming more and more regular.

It was just like last time—we were being hunted—we were trapped—! Phantom pain tore through wings that I no longer had, through a body that I longed for. The cave blinked out as more and more of Berk's soldiers charged in, heeding my father's command. We were going to die, here in this cold and dark place, with nowhere to go and no strength to carry on—

Toothless smacked into another sea stack, launching me back into the present. I gritted my teeth and blinked rapidly, forcing myself to stay _here._

We were on top of the tallest sea stack. There was a crowd of roughly ten men and women below, shooting arrow after arrow up at us. Toothless had scampered to its far end and was nearly hanging off of it, ducking just out of range—but we were trapped. The moment we tried to glide down to the docks or to the cliff, we'd be sitting ducks.

" _Hiccup okay?_ " Toothless wheezed.

" _Y-yes,_ " I gasped, although I still felt like I couldn't breathe for more reasons than one. " _You okay?_ "

Toothless tossed his head dismissively. " _Me okay._ "

I checked over him and let out a sharp cry. He was _not_ okay; he had an arrow embedded in his leg!

The sight filled me with horror and rage and terror. This was _our_ territory, and these humans had been the ones to show up unannounced.

I lifted myself up higher on Toothless' back, raised my hands into the air, and shouted in Norse, " _STOP!_ "

At the same time, a voice from farther away cried, "FIRE!"

There was a frozen heartbeat when I saw a burst of fire erupt on a ship, heard the crunching swing of the catapult, and saw its flaming load rocketing towards us. Toothless rushed to his feet and sprung straight up into the air, flapping for all that he was worth.

It was too late—the flaming rock smashed into the sea stack, shattering it underneath us and sending debris flying in all directions. The heat was so intense that it filled Toothless' wings and sent us spiraling up and away.

Toothless tried to gain some sense of control, swinging his tail and angling his wings, but it was all too much. The wind smacked against us while the updraft forced us backwards. My vision blacked out with pain as the world lurched to and fro.

In seconds it was overwhelming, and Toothless flipped completely over midair. At the same time, some debris smacked directly into my side.

I screamed in agony.

And for the first time, I fell off of Toothless.

My insides lurched with the beginnings of freefall. Toothless let out a shriek of horror, and his crippled tail swung just past me as he fought to realign himself.

In the pain and confusion of it all, my mind flashed back to that moment just over a week ago, when I'd been dropped to my fate—to my death. I bared my teeth, squinting into the shadows.

I wasn't going to be useless anymore.

Pulling my legs in, I looped my wrists through the clumsily-sewn bands at my ankle and the tip of my prosthetic. The agony of the movement was almost consuming.

 _Come on, come on, come on…_

I wrenched my arms back.

My wings snapped open.

And I didn't fall.

Despite the arrows, despite the fire, despite my wounds, despite that I was still dozens of feet up into the air, I couldn't stop the moment from overtaking me. I let out a heartfelt laugh, even as I glided right towards our attackers and back into danger.

In that moment, I didn't feel empty anymore. I felt _whole_. The joy of it left me breathless. I was _me_ again!

And then my wounds caught up with me. I flinched, and the movement folded my wings in. The air underneath me immediately transformed from a cushion to an angry downwards force, dragging me back down to earth.

I angled myself towards the docks and tried to pull up, but there was no time, I was moving too fast!

I crashed into the docks.

Hard.

 **o.O.o**

Toothless

What?

 _What?!_

I had but a moment to baffle over how Hiccup had managed to _sprout wings_ before I slapped directly into the ocean. The water was almost solid on impact, stinging every single scale and threatening to tear through my delicate wings and tailfins.

The ocean was dark, sucking out the light from above like a shadow. There was only bleakness and emptiness in all directions, no matter how hard I strained to find the light. I knew, logically, that I was sinking—but when I clawed in the direction I thought was "up", I was only sucked further into the nothingness.

My heart hammered. I stopped moving to spare what precious energy and oxygen I had left.

 _Stay calm! Stay calm!_ I told myself. _Find the light!_

Where there was light, there was Hiccup. And where Hiccup was right now, there were humans. Humans were _loud_. If I could just find them.. _._

Closing my eyes, I lifted my ears and side-frills as far out as they would go. The water felt thick and viscous; it muffled all sound around me except for the slow and steady crashing of the waves. I focused harder.

The vibration bounced through my side-frills just before I heard it.

It was…a voice.

No, that was wrong. It was—it was a sound, was it not?

The panicked beating of my heart and burning ache of my lungs drifted away just as I continued to sink from the surface. It thrummed through my body, deep into my very bones.

No…no, it wasn't _just_ a sound, I decided.

It was a feeling. It was an otherworldly, ethereal _thing_ that swarmed through my thoughts like the buzzing of insects. It was of loss, longing, sorrow, suffering. It was of strength, persistence, stubbornness.

 _Hiccup..._ I thought. I imagined it coming from a direction I could perceive and craned my neck towards it.

A deep hum rose from within me, almost a purr but too forlorn to properly be called one.

… _Hiccup…_

Sharp pain sliced through my chest.

 _Hiccup!_

My body seized. The voice and feeling snapped away, leaving me tearing at the water in desperation. I blinked blind eyes and flailed.

 _What happened?!_

The surface was gone. It was all shadow. I had been under for too long, and a deep, primal part of me knew that it was already too late—that I had stayed under for too long!

I was drowning! I was drowning!

Baring my teeth, I flung my body about, looking for just the littlest bit of light. Bright spots were filling my vision—a warning that I was only moments from losing consciousness.

No, no, _no!_ I was _not_ going to die here! I was _not_ going to leave Hiccup! I would _never_ force him through the agony that I had endured only a few days ago!

There was just enough air left in my lungs to convert to gas. I let it filter up into my throat until I could taste it, just barely keeping myself from coughing.

I sent a burst of fire into the waters just before it died out.

The flash illuminated the ocean's depths like the sun. Fish, the sand, the bottoms of the floating-trees far off in the distance.

Something far, far away lit up in brilliant colors. It was but a speck, its distance from me was so great.

I ignored it, thrashing in the opposite direction of the sand as my fire faded and left me blind again. The darkness of the ocean swooped in, bringing with it a terrible chill. I swung my paws and tail as hard as I could.

In those long, dark seconds, I feared that I had chosen the wrong direction.

My head broke through the surface. I coughed and wheezed.

I could no longer hear the…the… _thing._ I hissed, spinning around to try and get my bearings-only to let out a small gasp.

I must have been caught in an undertow, swept out to sea. The island was easily a mile away.

Fighting the ocean was pointless—it was too powerful. Just as it was for fledglings, the ocean was a death sentence for a _crippled_ dragon, too.

With a defiant snort, I closed my eyes and reached inside my heart for my magic.

The fireblast went far, far up into the sky and blazed across it like lightning. It gave an enormous, thundering crack as it tore through the clouds and enveloped the entire landscape.

As useless as it was, I flung my tail behind me, tucked my wings in, and began paddling. I funneled the remainder of my lighting gas into my throat and opened my jaw wide, lighting up a glowing spot on the waters for a searching group to spot.

After wasting so much time dazed beneath the waves, it was exhausting.

Within minutes, I could not go on.

 **o.O.o**

"… _ing?…u're…lled…_ "

"… _mean?...we…dead…"_

" _Shh! Both…now…"_

" _Not_ my _fault…why…?"_

"… _quiet…!"_

" _But…mistake…"_

" _Shh…he's waking up…_ "

 **o.O.o**

 _Fwish fwish fwish fwish…_

My ear twitched.

Awareness came upon me in a slow crawl, my senses growing more and more crisp over what felt like an endless period of time.

Scent came to me after sound: the brine of the ocean, the freshness of the forest, the crispness of the wind, and a myriad of others that my senses were too dulled to pay attention to.

My limbs felt leaden with soreness, and the firmness of the ground beneath me made me dizzy. The ground was soft and prickly—grass?

Weariness cast a heavy blanket upon me, sending me drifting in and out of a daze like driftwood bobbing in the ocean. Thoughts fluttered by like pestering insects, just noticeable enough to bother but impossible to catch with a swatting paw.

A feeling of wrong seemed ever-present, but I couldn't pinpoint it.

I was content to lie there, caught in-between consciousness and sleep, and let myself simply _be_ there.

Naturally, the Dragoness of the Moon saw fit to put an end to that.

The earth below me shook violently, and a painfully-loud _THUMP_ materialized right next to my ear.

I had only managed to wake up enough to be alarmed when talons wrapped around my shoulder and shook me about.

"Wake up! Wake up! Wake up!"

 _What the hell?!_

I struggled to squint my eyes open, and was rewarded with the sight of the world whipping by in a dizzying blur. " _Sto_ — _op!_ " I gasped, twisting around on my back and flinging my claws out.

"Oh! You're awake now, great!"

Ugh, I felt sick. I closed my eyes and tried to recenter myself after having been so rudely thrust back into the real world.

It caught up to me all at once.

With a pained wheeze, I forced my eyes open and lurched to my feet, gasping with the effort.

"Come _on!_ Hurry up!"

I narrowed my eyes at her.

"And why...are you still on... _this_ side of the island...Stormfly?" I panted.

Stormfly froze. "Um…"

She finally threw herself into a bow, "M-my apologies, my King!"

I didn't have time to worry over the yearling disobeying us. Shaking my head, I took a moment to catch my breath. "It's fine—what happened? Why are you here? Why…?"

I stopped.

I knew what the feeling of wrong was.

"Hiccup?!" I gasped. Fear sent energy into my body, and I spun around in a tight circle. "Where is he?! How long—? When did—?" I spun around to Stormfly, who had her head tipped all the way to the side. "What happened?!"

"Um...what?" She asked. "Why did you send your fire way out over the ocean? Why were you sleeping there? Why do you smell like that? Where's the other King?"

"That's what I _just_ —oh, nevermind! Why are you here? Did you see anything?"

"Yeah!" Stormfly said.

I waited.

" _And?_ " I pressed.

"There's a bunch of weird-smelling humans coming into the human nest! My human's _really_ scared!" She clucked. She narrowed her eyes and threw her head in annoyance. "She kept on trying to send me away! I didn't want to, because she's so small and needs me to keep her safe. But once the weird humans got close enough, she started yelling at me all mad and stuff!"

I craned my neck in desperate search of the "bunch of humans" and wheezed, "When did this...happen…? Wait, where…?"

We were in Berk—and by "in Berk", we were _literally_ inside the nest, surrounded by wood-caves. Not the forest, not the smoke-cave, not the docks, not the sea stacks. Further searching only compounded the sheer absurdity of the situation; the steep pathway to the docks was just in sight, and with it…

"See?" Stormfly pestered. "They're already on their way up! What's the point of chasing me off then, huh? My human can be so _stupid_ sometimes!"

The humans. They had attacked us. I hadn't seen what had happened to Hiccup after we were separated, but I didn't need to.

Magically-sprouted wings or not, we had been too high up for him to land safely.

He was with them.

I limped forward, and the entire island seemed to rock back and forth with sudden nausea. A sharp pain sprung from my injured right paw, which still had a woodclaw embedded in it.

"Woah!" Stormfly squawked. "Where are you going?! We're not allowed there!"

" _You're_ not allowed there," I corrected her. She lowered her head submissively, cowed, and I softened my voice. "Thank you for your help, Stormfly...but it really _is_ dangerous for us here. I've...got a special job for you...alright?"

The yearling beamed, bouncing up and down on the spot and flapping. "Okay! Okay! Okay!" She composed herself, shook her head, and then spread her wings out in a formal bow that didn't quite suit her. "I-I mean, I'd be honored, my King."

Despite the matters at wing, I had to force back a smile. In between pauses for breath, I instructed, "I need you to fly up and...find the rest of our nestmates. They should...be on their way now, but they need to know...it's too dangerous to descend. Tell them to...lie in wait far above, out of sight, and...wait for my signal if needed."

"Okay! Okay! I got it!"

"Alright, now repeat it back to me."

"Fly to our nestmates and tell them to wait for you!"

Not quite teeming with details, but it would be good enough. "Good. Now go, quickly!"

Stormfly puffed up. "Okay, my King! You can count on me!" She lifted her wings extravagantly, tail sticking straight up.

It would have looked almost magnificent if she managed to lift off properly. Instead, her wings were strained too far backwards, which resulted in her shoving the air in front of her and not beneath her. She hopped in place and blinked, startled.

Then, without a word, she crouched low and took off _correctly_ , launching herself above with much more care.

I had a feeling that our nestmates were _not_ going to get the message.

"Remember, wait for my signal!" I shouted up at her.

Very distantly, "...okay!..."

I sighed. At least she was safe now, no longer keen on following me or Astrid straight into her own demise. I swear that Two-Walker was going to get herself into trouble with her trusting nature.

With our nest organized...hopefully...I set my sights back on the crowd of humans approaching from the docks. They were moving very quickly into the nest. I had to go at this delicately; if they had Hiccup, then they could easily use him as a hostage.

In the sudden loneliness of the abandoned nest, the shock of being woken up faded. Exhaustion slammed into me, nearly knocking me back to the ground in its heaviness. I lacked the strength to leap up onto the wood-caves for the advantage of higher ground. As such, I slunk close to the shadows, using the lack of moonlight to my advantage and creeping along the sides of the wood-caves.

My limbs were slow, my reflexes dulled; it was like I had been turned into stone. I was forced to stop several times to catch my breath.

By the time I had caught up to the crowd, it had traveled deep into the nest and had grown significantly in size with Berk's humans. I lifted my ears and slowed my pace, training my attention on what the humans were saying.

Too many were talking—it was all muffled and muddled. All that was distinguishable was the fear and shock.

I crept closer, wincing at the movement. My head was beginning to pound with one hell of a migraine.

The King's voice cut through the chaos like a talon through flesh. "There are no dragons on Berk!"

 _...huh?_

I was too tired to try to reason that one out. Luckily, the anger in the King's voice silenced the rest of the humans, allowing me to focus better on what they were saying.

A female human responded in kind, just as frustrated. "I know yer lyin' to me, Stoick! I've heard the rumors! Trader Johann himself said your island was filled with 'em!"

"Do ya _see_ any dragons around here?" Came the voice of "Gobber". "Because, _hmm_ , I can't say _I_ do!"

"I don't know how ya did it," the female growled. "But I know _who_ did it. Where is he, huh? Where's the monster ya call yer son?"

"That's enough." The King was shockingly calm, considering the nonsense the human female was spewing. "We cannot help you with your unreasonable demands. I'm sorry, but there is nothing we can do for you, and we do not have the resources to spare to house you here."

The female wasn't so easily brushed off. "For the last time, quit ignorin' me and answer my question!" She said. "I've heard all about yer son controllin' the dragons. I _know_ he's the one sending raids to all the islands!"

The migraine worsened as I tried to find some rationality in her logic. I grit my teeth, swaying where I stood.

Maybe...it would be a good idea to back away. Hiccup obviously wasn't here—so where was he, then?

" _Chief!_ "

The call was wild and terrified, interrupting the squabbling humans. I blearily tipped my head to the side.

"There ya are," the female said. "What took ya so long? You were sent to get the dragons nearly thirty minutes ago! Does this have somethin' to do with that strange lightnin' we saw?"

"No," a new voice growled. "But we got a dragon, alright. When we got to the ships, there was a _Night Fury_ snoopin' around 'em!"

Audible gasps came from the intruding humans. The humans of Berk stiffened and sent quick glances to each other.

I panted, slumping on the wall of the nearest wood-cave.

"A-and that's not all!" Cried the first trembling voice. "W-when we attacked it, _this_ jumped off of it! Beetle, show 'em!"

A second passed where a human shuffled around to the center of the group.

 _Thump._

The King cried out, losing all of his composure.

" _Hiccup!_ "

I snapped to attention, standing up straighter. In the crowd, I could just barely see the King's tall form rush forward and stoop out of sight.

With a small groan, I pushed myself off the wood-cave and stumbled my way closer.

"So yer son _is_ here," the female hummed. "I must say, I'm surprised he looks normal. I expected somethin' bigger."

"Gobber, help me untie him! What did you—why is he—?" The King's voice lowered dangerously. "Who did this."

"A better question is, _why_ was he with a Night Fury?" The female snapped. "What happened?"

"He wasn't just _with_ it!" The frightened human gasped. "He was _growlin'_ and _hissin'_ at it, just like a dragon! And when we hit 'em with a catapult, he _flew_ off 'a it with _wings!_ "

" _Catapult?_ " The King hissed. His voice trembled with barely-contained fury. "You shot at my son with a _catapult?!_ "

I was almost to the crowd now. By some miracle, none of the humans had seen me—although it didn't take much to reason why.

The female seemed to notice a moment too late that her friend should have kept that a secret. "Well, I'm sure it was only to get the Night Fury—"

" _GET OFF MY ISLAND!_ "

The howl rang in my ears and thrashed against my skull. My migraine compounded so fiercely that spots swarmed in my vision and a high-pitched whine squeezed from my throat. My paw gave out, and I just barely managed to keep myself standing.

It completely obliterated my element of surprise. Every damn human that was close to me yelped and twisted round to face me.

Once again, a stunned silence swooped upon the humans.

I peered through the crowd. Just there, in the very center, was…

I couldn't hold back a relieved smile, eyelids drooping. " _Hiccup,_ " I breathed. "Oh, thank the gods..."

I lurched forward.

The frightened human found his voice.

" _NIGHT FURY!_ "

Everything collapsed. There was no time for confusion. Immediately following the outcry, a female human ripped something from her midsection and charged.

She blocked Hiccup from my sight. I narrowed my eyes.

I couldn't fight, not like this. I knew that all too well.

But I was going to have to.

Baring my teeth in a weak snarl, I lowered my head, whipped my tail about, and braced myself. The human got close enough for me to see the rage and terror in her eyes.

A blur of color swept in front of me. I blinked, and the human was lying on the ground, groaning.

"Dog's Breath" straightened up and stood in front of me.

"Are you mad?!" He spat. "Attack this one, and they'll all come down on us!"

"Thanks..." I mumbled, starting to feel a little woozy. Even though I was still struggling to catch my breath, I padded around "Dog's Breath" and stepped directly into the crowd, allowing me a better view of the pocket in the center where everyone was talking.

 _There._

Hiccup was lying unconscious, the King crouched protectively over him and "Gobber" standing besides them. There were bindings all over him, just loosened enough for them to hang off of him.

He'd been tied up. I'd heard that already—but seeing it filled me with rage, bringing with it newfound strength. I dug my claws into the ground, just barely restraining myself from launching at the nearest human that didn't smell like Berk, and picked up my frustratingly-slow pace.

"Somebody kill it!" A human screamed.

" _NO!_ " The King commanded. He flung a paw at me in the same "you are dismissed" gesture Hiccup would often use at our nestmates. I snorted; did he _really_ think I would leave?

The human who had attacked me winced and struggled to rise to her feet. Even in my exhaustion, I could see that she was lame in her hind leg—a fresh wound was there.

It was a bite mark.

She balked at me…and then laughed.

"So ya really _do_ have dragons on yer island!" She said. "And ta think ya tried to lie ta me and send me off?"

Why was she still going on about this?

 _Ugh, I don't care._

I stumbled closer to my brother, keeping my eyes trained on him. I would personally rip those bindings to shreds and light them aflame. Then I would turn the same treatment on the humans who dared do such a thing to him.

The humans of Berk parted for me, allowing me access directly to Hiccup—and to the intruding humans, whom were all surrounded in the center with nowhere to go. Fear-scent began to fill the air. I reached the pocket, and a wall of weapons rose to meet me.

Forced to a stop, I raised my lip to reveal teeth and gums, letting loose a rattling hiss that was far more confident than I felt. Many of the humans trembled on their feet as they should, but didn't stray from their formation.

"All of you, back!" The King commanded furiously. "You are to leave him be, and depart from my island this instant!"

"What's goin' on here, Stoick?" The human whom I gathered to be their Queen demanded. She ignored me and shoved her way through the humans to stand right in front of the King. "Ya tell me ya don't have dragons on yer island, ya refuse to talk about yer son, and then my men find 'im sneakin' around our ships? What's this they about him _flyin'_ , like some ungodly half-dragon creature? Why are ya protectin' a _Night Fury?!_ "

Through the crowd, the King met my gaze.

He was doing a damn good job at a furious scowl, but even in his eyes, I could see my own confusion reflected in them.

"What, can't speak now that yer caught in yer lies?" The human Queen snapped.

"That's enough," the King snarled. "You have arrived here unannounced, armed, and with demands that we are not obliged to fulfill. Your men come to us with my son bound so tightly he's nearly suffocated and tell me that _he's_ the monster."

He narrowed his eyes, and a sudden, eerie calm swept over him.

"You will be off my island this instant, or I will rain Hel upon you."

"No."

The King nodded around him, and the humans of Berk unsheathed their weapons. The intruding humans gasped and tensed, inching their weapons closer to me. The fear-scent was almost choking now, hanging like a humid mist in the air.

The human Queen stared coolly around her, undisturbed by the blatant threat. " _Your_ tribe started all of this. Everybody knows the raids have somethin' to do with yourdemonic son, even other tribes far from here. Ya wouldn't come ta us, so we came ta you. We're not leavin' until ya agree ta fix the problem ya started."

A grin slid across her face. "Or we can fight. I've been itchin' for one for a while now. Can your men stay _all_ the tribes in the archipelago?"

Human King and Queen stared each other off.

A distant call came from above, along with the unmistakable sound of wings. I lifted my head higher, feeling _much_ more confident.

And I lost my patience.

"Let me through!" I roared, flinging my wings open and rearing.

It was so unexpected that all of the enemy humans lost their focus. A few dropped their weapons from the sheer shock, and one even scrambled backwards and fell on their back.

I pounced onto the opportunity, rushing through the hole in the barrier before they could react. They scrambled away from me, too cowardly to strike when they didn't have safety in numbers. I sent a thankful prayer to the Dragon of the Sun for that; I didn't have it in me to force a way in.

The human Queen stepped in front of me, drawing a heavy weapon that seemed to end in a large rock. "Back, devil!" She spat, but was unable to keep her own fear from shaking in her voice.

I gave her one warning, hissing and stamping the ground.

A soft moan drew my attention away from her.

Hiccup brought up a paw to his head. His wing—his _wing!_ —trailed up with the movement.

" _Hiccup!_ " I cried. _"Danger!_ "

He stiffened, pretending to be unconscious now. It didn't work; the King had a keen eye, and had noticed our interaction, no matter how small.

He placed a paw lightly on Hiccup's shoulder and gave him a gentle shake. "Hic—"

Hiccup flinched, twisted around with flailing claws, and bared all of his teeth in a ferocious snarl. Even though he sounded like a fledgling, it was still of such intensity that it would have given an adult pause.

The warning echoed twice before I realized that I should have kept my damned mouth shut.

The human Queen stumbled several steps backwards, her weapon now aimed at Hiccup and trembling in her paw. The King's mouth was parted in horror, his eyes bulging. He had reared his paws back, and now held them out complacently.

Hiccup blinked up at his father. His eyes trailed away from him and through the stunned crowd.

Fear and dread bloomed across his face as he pieced it all together and he realized what he'd done.

"Monster," a human whispered, and I couldn't tell which nest they were from.

I jolted towards my brother in desperation—both to be _close_ to him and to protect him as best as I could.

As I skirted past the human Queen, she regained her senses, snapping her head towards me.

"No!" Hiccup gasped.

Cringing, I threw myself down and felt the wind brush past me from the swing. Without even sparing the time to look at the Queen, I gathering my legs beneath me and threw myself in a clumsy leap the rest of the way to Hiccup.

I landed just in front of him and my legs gave out. Gasping, I sank to the ground beside him and held a wing over him, pressing my cheek against his. He sat up, shooting fearful and confused looks between his father and the human Queen.

"What…what _are_ you?" She growled.

Hiccup flinched away like he'd been struck. I showed my teeth and hissed at her, pinning my ears and opening my wings.

The Queen lifted her weapon.

The King stepped in front of us.

"Don't you dare," he said in a low, even tone.

All around us, humans were unsheathing claws and swords and axes and mounting woodclaws to curved sticks. My heart lurched in my chest, and my breathing accelerated to a frantic, panicky pace.

Another call came from above—this time aggressive.

"Ya can't be serious. That _thing_ isn't yer son, Stoick—it's a demon! It's brought a _Night Fury_ into yer village!"

" _Up_ ," I told Hiccup.

He was shaking, staring at the human with wide eyes and holding his chest. I prodded him with a paw, and he flinched and snapped his attention to me. With a groan, he grabbed hold of my spines and crawled up onto my shoulders.

As I did so, the King snapped, "You are speaking of matters that you don't understand. This is your final warning. I will not tolerate threats against my son or village."

Hiccup barely weighed a thing, but as tired as I was, he might as well have been as heavy as the King. I narrowed my eyes and bared my teeth, slowly lifting myself up on rattling, unsteady legs. My tail hung low and my ears drooped, and I snapped my wings out for balance when I suddenly fell to the side. Hiccup immediately tried to get off, and I drew my wings up to keep him put.

"You're mad," the human Queen said in disbelief. "The dragons are our enemies! All they do is kill our people and destroy our livelihoods! And yer tellin' me that yer village is just livin' with them? Lettin' them turn yer people into half-dragon _monsters?_ " She gestured at Hiccup, who made himself small against my back.

"W-wait," he stammered. "That's not—we're not—e-everyone just needs to calm down!"

"Oh, speakin' like a person now, are ya?" The human Queen mused condescendingly, raising an eyebrow. She pointed at his wings. "Ya might have these people fooled, but not me. _Look_ at you! Ya don't side with _us_ , that's for sure!"

Something around us…shifted.

I flicked my eyes around. Hiccup grew very tense, gripping onto me as tight as he could.

The humans of Berk looked uncertain.

 _Oh, no._

The King shared a look with us. He widened his stance just enough so that he was now ready to spring to action.

"The dragons do not raid Berk," he said in that calm, commanding tone. "Perhaps it is because we are doing something right."

The human Queen threw her head back and laughed, the light of victory gleaming in her eyes. "You think yer doin' somethin' _right?_ How many of ya _really_ want to live with dragons?" She cried out to the surrounding nest. "How many of ya want these demons walkin' amongst you, always havin' to look over yer shoulder?!"

" _Dragons!_ " One of her inferiors shouted in sudden fear, pointing upwards.

Our nestmates had been hovering above for some time now. They had been spotted against the stars.

"Look at them, waitin' to strike!" The human Queen shouted. "They'll kill us all if we drop our guard! Men, _fire!_ "

" _NO!_ " Came a cry from the opposite end of the crowd—it was Astrid.

At that very moment, I lifted my head to the heavens and hailed, " _Our nestmates, attack!_ "

" _UNDERSTOOD!_ " Came the resounding battle cry, a shriek that ripped through the air like it had fangs and talons of its own.

The human Queen went for the first strike, launching towards us with a furious scream. In a single, smooth motion, the King stepped aside, grabbed her swinging paw, and kicked her injured leg. She was forced back, baring her teeth in pain and fury.

"Hiccup, Toothless, _run!_ " He shouted over his shoulder.

Out of pride alone, I wanted to defy him—we were Kings, and we must be the first to defend our territory. How _weak_ would we be to turn and run at the first hint of conflict?

But Hiccup and I were too exhausted to be of use in battle, and our nestmates could easily be injured attempting to rescue us. Throwing ourselves into battle for the sake of our egos would only make this terrible situation even worse.

Shame filled me. I began to back away towards the safety and emptiness of Berk as human weapons met each other in combat, sending head-splitting, sharp rings through the air. Human battle cries arose from all directions as the nest of Berk caved in on its intruders with brutal and efficient ferocity, one I still feared to this day.

The human Queen's forces were outnumbered, but strong and fueled with fear—they were not overcome as easily as a group that small should have been.

"W-wait! We don't have to fight!" Hiccup shouted above the clamor, his voice filled with dread. He leaned forward, trying to push me back towards the fight. "Please, stop!"

A moment later, the darkness of the night lit up in flames.

Our nestmates descended upon the intruding humans with the frantic and wild fury of a nest threatened with being overthrown. Flame-Skins lived up to their name, running into the fray in searing coats of flame. Two-Walkers descended and flung their poison barbs and clawed with their long talons. Two-Heads spewed gas in a perimeter around the opposing forces and lit them aflame, trapping them like prey in a ring of fire. Hum-Wings and Little-Biters hovered above, spitting out rains of molten lava and crackling sparks.

"No!" Hiccup cried as human screams of anger turned fearful and pained.

I narrowed my eyes. If we couldn't fight, we could guide our nestmates.

"Watch your tails!" I shouted. "They're teaming up, don't let them behind you!"

This was true—all of the intruders had abandoned their human opponents and turned on our nestmates, aiming for the wings and tails. I bristled, desperately trying to force firing gas up into my throat and finding none to spare.

It quickly became apparent that something was off. Somehow, our nestmates were starting to be cornered—it was like there were more humans! Where did they come from?!

I squinted in the stinging light of the fire, growling.

Realization brought a cold, muted disbelief onto me. The intruding human force hadn't grown in size.

Some of _Berk's_ warriors had turned on our nestmates!

I took a step back. And then another. The betrayal knocked the breath out of me.

Berk's humans were fighting the intruders—but some were hovering uncertainly, watching the battle and struggling to find their place in it. Some of the disgusting traitors were standing side-by-side with our mutual enemies, using their allied status to their advantage!

Even in battle, the scent of Berk was easily-detectable—and our nestmates refused to strike them on my previous commands. I watched in horror as many faltered and dropped their defenses, confused by the sudden change of heart.

They were vulnerable now, easy to fell in their unwillingness to break our unsteady tie with Berk.

" _Fall back!_ " I commanded, my voice tight and shrill. "Fall back, they've turned on us!"

Our nestmates began to back away, but too many were caught in battle—to turn and flee would mean exposing their wings and tails. It was a certain death.

"Toothless!" Hiccup gasped. "We have to stop this!"

" _No! Berk human fight dragon!_ " I hissed at him.

He growled in fear, his eyes wide as they reflected the firelight before us. "They're all going to _die_ at this rate! We can't do this again!" His voice cracked. "We can't _kill_ people again!"

I shot him a look with wide eyes. "B-but _Hiccup_ ," I said. " _Human attack_ us! _Us—_ "

Amid the fire, the King barreled into the human Queen and threw her backwards. She fell to the ground right in front of me.

The King put his sword to her throat. I leapt forward, roaring with unsheathed claws.

A small figure leapt atop the human Queen.

Hiccup rose to his hind legs, flared his wings between the King and me, and _howled_ in dragon:

" _STOP!_ "

The sound of battle dimmed. Humans whipped around to find the source of the scream, startled to hear a dragon so close behind them. Our nestmates halted.

In the abrupt stillness, every dragon lowered their body in a bow and murmured, "Yes, my King."

Without a moment to waste, they heeded my previous command, leaping from their crouched positions into the sky. Blood rained from the skies from the innumerable wounds our nestmates had sustained for us. Horror filled me when I saw some _running_ away rather than flying.

"Stop…" Hiccup whimpered in human, his small body shaking like he'd been soaked with freezing water. "All of you, stop…please…"

The scent of smoke and fire and blood hung heavy in the air. Many humans were lying on the ground, wounded by fire and human weapons.

A considerable number of them weren't moving.

I searched through the crowd, leering at the traitors as they slunk away. I caught sight of Astrid besides Stormfly, both of them coated in blood and breathless from fighting. Even the King had a few injuries of his own, although I couldn't tell who's blood it was smearing across his torso.

Hiccup stepped off of the human Queen. She launched to her feet and took in the gruesome aftermath, the pools of blood, the fallen humans.

" _You_." She whipped towards Hiccup. " _You_ are the one commandin' the dragons."

"No—"

"You listen here, you _monster_ ," she interrupted. "You've got another thing comin', if you think you can keep this up. We won't stand by and let yer dragons raid our islands."

"...We?" I repeated, inching closer to Hiccup.

"N-no, you've got it all wrong," Hiccup rushed. "We don't have _anything_ to do with—"

" _Retreat!_ " The human Queen shouted over her shoulder. Her inferiors scrambled to gather up their wounded.

The _good_ humans of Berk remained battle-ready, crouched and forming a wall around the intruders.

"Let them pass," the King said to his remaining ranks. He narrowed his eyes at the human Queen. "Next time, we won'tbe so merciful. Hopefully you've learned not to challenge us."

Fire smoldered around us, glinting angrily in the human Queen's eyes.

"You've already lost, Stoick," she said. "Now we know that _thing_ exists and that it lives here, too. Our allies are far stronger than your dragons."

I lunged forward, flaring my wings and opening my jaw wide in a snarl. The human Queen stumbled backwards. I smirked and loosened my posture.

"Off with you!" The King snapped. He stepped forward, flanked by his forces.

The human Queen and her nest were forced away under the watchful glares of both dragon and human. The King followed them to the docks to make sure they didn't try anything. Hiccup and I stayed there, too exhausted to do anything more than stumble to the cliffsides.

We both sat down, facing away from the gore of the battle, and stared down as the floating-trees filled with our enemies. Hiccup placed his head in his paws and hunched over, taking in forced breath after forced breath. I wrapped my tail around him.

" _It is fine_ ," I murmured. Hiccup shook his head. " _It is fine. Me here._ "

"Oh, gods…" Hiccup moaned, clawing at his chest and wings drawn in. I pressed up against him, and he turned and clung to me with unsteady paws. His breathing was unsteady.

Guilt rushed through me. I cursed my stupidity and shortsightedness.

It was easy to get caught up in the battle, to take on a cold-hearted mindset devoid of empathy to win.

It was easy to forget how similar this was to the Queen's raids.

 _Dammit, Toothless! What's wrong with you?!_

My heart pounded, and I butted Hiccup's forehead. " _It is fine_ ," I comforted him, bringing up a wing around him to hide him from the sight. " _Hiccup good._ "

He shuddered and shook his head. " _No…no…_ "

" _Me here_ ," I reassured him. " _See? See me?_ "

Hiccup met my eyes, distraught and guilty and lost.

I strained for our link, but even now did it abandon us.

With drooping ears, I hung my head. " _Me no listen. Sorry…sorry…_ "

"They're going to come back," he whispered, burying his head into my scales. I did the same, closing my eyes and leaning into him.

" _Us here, and us nest here_ ," I murmured. " _Us safe. Love you…_ "

" _L-love,_ " he returned. "What…what do we do? People from _Berk_ were fighting us..."

" _This us and nest home_ ," I said. " _Us protect home. Us good and strong._ "

"But…"

" _This easy_ ," I reassured him. " _Human very stupid. Hiccup very smart. Look!"_ I nodded at his wings. " _How?!_ "

This drew a small snort from him, although it sounded almost like a sob. Running his paws over his limp wings, he took in a deep breath and leaned into me, closing his eyes. " _Thank you, Toothless._ I…I'm sorry for freaking out."

"Actually…" I drawled. " _Hiccup stupid._ "

He gave a small smile, and I licked him just to annoy him. This earned me an annoyed groan and his paws pushing me away, but I wasn't about to let him get away after I'd managed to cheer him up a bit. I used my wing to pin him to my side, purring all the while.

Hiccup didn't fight against me, although he did rub at his fur with a small, worried whine.

We sat like that for some time. The intruders continued to step onto their floating-trees.

Hiccup was not the only one shaken by the unexpected and vicious battle. It wasn't too long until our nestmates descended around us, trembling and frightened. We all huddled together for comfort and security, nursing our wounds and finding reassurance in the warmth and safety we provided each other.

The sun began to rise, putting an end to this horrible night. The floating-trees departed from Berk. I snorted at them, baring my teeth. Good riddance.

Hiccup saw them first, having been watching the docks while we waited for his father to return.

" _What that?_ " He asked everyone around us. Our nestmates still couldn't understand him very well, so he pointed the human way out to the floating-trees.

Many of us murmured in confusion—and then several dragons gave surprised yips, myself included.

 _Dragons_ were flying from the floating-trees.

I let out a breath in relief. In the wake of the battle, we had been unable to free them; it was simply too dangerous to send our own nestmates to save them. I would not ask them to risk their lives when I myself could not do the same. That these dragons had escaped on their own was a blessing.

" _Greetings!_ " I called out to them.

Our nestmates took up the call, " _GREETINGS!_ "

The dragons banked towards us. Hiccup and I exchanged a nervous and excited look, shuffling around as we waited for them to land. These outsiders could possibly bring with them answers to all of our questions, resolving these frustrating mysteries once and for all.

They passed directly overhead without even glancing down.

Perplexed croons lifted from our nest, but not at the blatant rudeness the dragons displayed in refusing to acknowledge us. It was because of something almost familiar, something that I felt I _should_ know but had forgotten, sending a shudder deep into my heart.

An empty hum was emanating from them, unwavering and lost and almost unnatural-sounding.

The dragons were singing.


	8. Chapter 8

**Hello, everyone!**

 **Things have been getting a little crazy for me. But here's another long chapter for all of you! First, I'd like to thank** **Brave She-Elf, Varghul, TheWhisperingWarrior, Firesgone, Elt-1080, NightShadow9558, MisstyX0007, Zeklyn, CrisDLZ, Brenne, Nacktgranate, InnerFlame7, Timmichangas, Anonymous Noob the 2nd, Siganna, Lightwavers, TheFuriousNightFury, Some random guy, Crysist, and all anonymous reviewers for leaving your thoughts! As always, I'd also like to thank my beta Crysist for all your hard work!**

 **Thoughts and comments are always welcome! Have a wonderful day!**

* * *

 **Chapter 8**

Hiccup

The air whirled and the sun cascaded through dragon wings, casting vibrant light onto the earth below. Toothless and I sat in the middle of the downdrafts, watching our nestmates depart with unspoken longing.

We were left alone on the clifftops. Until things cooled down, it was something we would have to get used to. We couldn't risk our nestmates staying in Berk—not when some villagers had betrayed us, turning on us in the heat of battle.

It was like we'd been blinded, left out in the open and vulnerable. We needed them here. We needed them if the Bog Burglars came back. We needed them if those strange dragons came back.

The thought of the foreign dragons made me feel anxious and jumpy for a reason I couldn't quite figure out. I had been able to make out an odd, distinct accent and an almost melodic quality to their speech. It had almost sounded like smooth, running water, each word flowing indistinguishably into the next. Their words had been brimming with loss and sorrow and desperation, yet completely empty and devoid of substance at the same time. It was like nothing I'd ever imagined before.

It sent chills racing down my spine. They seemed to have no intentions of bothering us, but their presence still made me worry. Why had they ignored us? Why had they been on the Bog Burglar ships?

I sighed and ran my hand over my wings, and the tension in my shoulders loosened a bit. We'd already wasted enough time sitting around feeling confused and angry and scared—we needed to get to work.

"Toothless…" I began.

He huffed his "here we go" sigh. " _Hiccup_ —"

" _Look!_ " I said, holding my arms out so that my wings flared. " _Me fly now!_ " I narrowed my eyes. "You _fly now._ "

He gawked at my wings, only now getting a good look at them. He got up and stepped closer, sniffing at them. " _Wow…_ "

"So…" I said. "You're gonna go talk to the elders now, right?"

He snapped his head up. " _Huh? Why?_ "

" _Hiccup no fly, Toothless no fly_ ," I repeated his words back to him. " _Me fly now. You heal tail!_ "

" _Tail_ ," he repeated back to me.

" _Tail_ ," I said more slowly.

" _Speak again?_ "

"Are you stalling?" I said, narrowing an eye and tilting my head aside.

Toothless pressed his lips together, his ears pinning against his skull. " _Ah, no._ "

"Yes, you are," I complained. " _Why?_ "

Toothless stood there, looking scolded and uncertain. "... _me...no certain._ "

"You're not certain...you want your tailfin?" I leaned close to him, offering a soothing purr. "Toothless, I _want_ you to fix it. I really do."

" _Me know,_ " he sighed, pressing closer. " _Me no certain this fair._ "

I looked down at my hands. "Lots of things aren't fair, Toothless. But I don't think this is one of those."

He shook his stubborn head. " _Me..._ " Toothless struggled. " _Me know me stupid_. _Me only lose tailfin. Hiccup no lose only wing. Hiccup lose wing, and leg, and tail, and fire and claw and teeth and...and_ everything! _And me_ only _lose tailfin!_ "

I huffed. I'd known, in some way, that _that_ was the root of the problem—that he was more refusing on principle, on making our loss "even". He felt that healing his tailfin would erase that, that he would no longer bear any burdens while I did.

It was the answer I had expected from him, even though I wanted more than anything to change his mind.

" _Toothless_ ," I said.

" _No fair!_ " He asserted, resolved now.

I groaned, running my paws over my face, and set him with a stern look. I was trying to convince him to _heal_ his tail, not give him more reason _not_ to.

Toothless met my stare. Again I clawed at the empty shell of my magic, almost begging our link to come forth.

I didn't need it to know what he was thinking—or rather, what he _wasn't_ thinking. Just by looking at him, I could see that he was exhausted, put on-edge just as much as I was both by the Bog Burglars and the strange, singing dragons. In the wake of a huge mess of uncertainty, he'd found something certain and solid to latch onto: his misguided morals that lead him to think it was cruelly unfair to heal his tail.

Maybe...when everything cooled down, he'd be able to look at it from the right angle. But in the wake of the battle—and now with him so riled up—we were only going to dissolve into an argument.

There had been so many fights in the past few days. The _last_ thing I wanted was to have one with Toothless—especially over _this._

And _especially_ because I had come up with a "Plan B" just in case this exact scenario happened.

"Fine," I sighed, shoving as much disappointment into my tone as I could. Toothless hung his head, but his eyes still shone with determination.

"Well...in that case, we need to go back to the smithy," I said, finally giving up on the topic for the time being. "There's still something there I have to work on, but there's few adjustments I need to make."

Toothless still looked immensely guilty. He took in what I said, and he suddenly perked up with wide eyes. " _Wait_ — _more? More this?_ " He yelped, pointing his nose at my wings.

I shook my head and let myself relax, relieved for the change of subject. "Not exactly. It's actually part of the surprise, but we kinda got interrupted. But besides that, I need to fix all of this." I flared a wing and pointed at some stitching errors.

" _Hiccup this,_ " Toothless said, opening both of his wings to their fullest extent. He tried to hide how it hurt him, making a show of flapping them a bit like he'd meant to flinch.

I did the same, including the "trying to pretend my body isn't full of pain" bit.

Toothless hummed in concentration, stepping carefully around me with a critical eye. Every so often, he would carefully prod at my wings where they connected to my side, no doubt taking notice of the dangerously-loose stitching as well. He reached out and nipped with his gums at the fabric, pulling it to test how far out it extended and responded to stretch. After several rounds, he sat down beside me with a proud grin.

" _Wow!_ " He said. " _Very, very,_ very _good!_ "

"I mean—"

Toothless snorted dismissively. " _Hiccup stupid. This good!_ " He got up and pointed the human way at my rump. " _Need base-fin._ "

"But… _no tail_ ," I said.

" _Yes,_ " Toothless mused. He pointed between my legs. " _No there_. _Hiccup no walk._ "

Both of us studied my leatherwork.

" _Here?_ " Toothless asked, pointing the human way at my back.

"I think…so?" I mumbled, already running through schematics in my head. " _Need drawing._ "

" _Drawing_ ," Toothless corrected.

" _Drawing?_ "

Toothless nodded, purring. " _See?_ " He asked. " _Hiccup very smart!_ "

I batted at him and then leaned against him. " _Thank you, Toothless_ ," I crooned. "I know I say this a lot, but I'm just…glad you're here. Just talking really helps…and this, too." I flopped a wing at him.

" _Speak good!_ " Toothless huffed in a playful-but-actually-serious exaggeration. " _Toothless_ always _speak good! Hiccup no listen?_ "

"Sorta," I said. I nudged him. "Like a certain _someone_ else."

Toothless scoffed and swatted at me with his tail.

" _Ugh!_ Well, _anyways_ , we should go," I said, my eyes trailing back down towards the docks. "We gotta…actually, hold on."

" _Why?_ " Toothless asked.

A wave of anxiety burst through my chest as I peered down at the docks with my lame, human eyes. I searched and searched, but saw nothing.

"I want to wait for Dad to come back up."

Toothless grimaced. I couldn't help but do the same.

" _Hiccup...certain?_ " Toothless groaned.

" _Yes_ ," I sighed, holding my arms in. "I want to make sure he's okay. And also, I…" I swallowed and forced a deep breath to try and collect myself. "I _growled_ at him, Toothless."

" _No you fault_ ," Toothless was quick to validate, but I shook my head.

"I don't want to just wander off on that note. Especially when he was so worried about me."

With each word, guilt weighed heavier and heavier on my heart. Why had it taken me this long to even _think_ about this? What was I thinking, to just go back to smithy and get working like everything was normal?

" _Wait_ ," Toothless said, whipping around to face the ocean. " _Hear that?_ "

I stiffened, straightening myself upright. After a few seconds, I began to hear a faint, high-pitched sound.

Someone was...screaming?

I'd already taken a step forward when a dragon rocketed right past us, sending down such a powerful draft that I nearly lost my footing.

" _No, no, no, NO!_ "

Toothless shouted at our nestmate. They tipped their head to look and dove down to meet us. I took quick notice that they was carrying something in their beak—a fledgling?

Our nestmate landed, stooped, and gingerly set whatever it was on the ground.

A very shocked, very scared, very shaken Astrid leapt to her feet.

" _STORMFLY!_ " She tried to admonish, but her voice still had a quiver in it. " _No!_ Don't _ever_ do that again!"

Stormfly beamed and purred soothingly at her, wrapping her tail around her like she was reassuring a fledgling. I took quick notice that the two of them were no less worse for wear than me and Toothless; the both of them were covered in the rusty-red of dried blood, and Astrid had a few noticeable bruises.

Toothless asked her a question in an extremely unimpressed tone, although he couldn't quite hide a smirk. Stormfly lowered her head, keening at the two of us in a pleading tone. Whatever it was, she really, _really_ wanted to do it—and she wanted Astrid to come with her.

Toothless burst out laughing. Astrid started, turning around and finally seeing us there.

"Hiccup!" She gasped. Throwing her hands at Stormfly, she exclaimed, "What the hell?!"

Stormfly still had that stupid, proud smile. It was getting harder and harder to keep a serious face.

"We didn't tell her to do that!" I rushed. "But are you okay? Did she think you were in danger?"

"Nope!" Astrid said. "I was just standing there minding my own business and she just _grabbed_ me and launched us _hundreds_ of feet into the sky!"

" _Think human fledgling!_ " Toothless snickered. " _Think need protect! Want go nestmates._ "

" _What?!_ " I whispered, trying and failing to keep myself from smiling. Toothless was quick to nudge me to "scold" me for laughing, and I pushed him away.

"It's _not_ funny, Hiccup!" Astrid said. "That was _seriously_ scary and—and—"

She stopped short, having calmed down enough to _really_ take me in. Her eyes went first to my wings, then Toothless, back to my wings, and then to my eyes.

Without even thinking, I drew my arms in so that the fabric folded almost out of sight. There was nothing I could do to hide the leather attachments on my legs and torso—especially the ones clumsily wrapped around my prosthetic leg.

All at once, dread swept through me. I didn't want all of Berk to know about this. Not after the battle, not after finding out that people still hated dragons in the _worst_ possible way, and not after…

…not after I'd snapped at Dad like a wild dragon.

Talking with Toothless had been a great distraction—but now it had dissipated, sending me falling back to the real world.

"So...um..." I stuttered, flicking my eyes around for some excuse to change the subject. "So you're...alright, right?"

"Uh...yeah," Astrid dragged out, still struggling to keep herself from staring. With a small smile, she reached up and patting Stormfly's neck. "Just a little banged up. Stormfly was right besides me the entire time, so I won't be getting any cool battle scars out of this one." She turned back to me, suddenly grim. "And what about you, Hiccup? You were knocked out pretty good for awhile there."

I shrugged, fighting to keep from looking too uncomfortable under her piercing eye. "It's kind-of becoming part of my daily schedule at this point. Which isn't...the best...uh, yeah."

Toothless jolted upright and let out a short warning hiss. Stormfly also perked up, twining her neck around to look behind her.

Just at the pathway to the docks, someone was charging towards us. My heart began to hammer. It took my dull, human eyes longer than I wanted to focus on them and figure out who they were. I relaxed, but not as much as I would have liked.

Dad came barreling right into our pod, just barely stopping in front of us. I took an involuntary step back. only to force myself forward again.

"Hiccup—Astrid—are you two—alright?" He gasped.

We both nodded, and he straightened up and managed to catch his breath.

"Good. Thank Odin you're still here—both of you." He eyed Stormfly suspiciously, but she was too busy preening her wing to notice. Turning to me, he asked, "Are you injured? Did the Bog Burglars do anything to you?"

Fire and arrows flashed through my mind's eye. I shied away just a bit. "Y-yeah, I'm fine."

Toothless gave an irritated huff—all but shouting, "You are _not_ fine!"

I sent him a pointed look. He returned it, then stopped and looked away in guilt—he knew that I'd noticed his injuries, too.

"I'm just sore," I said. Facing Dad, I began, "Are you…"

My voice left me.

Dad was _covered_ in blood. Astrid and Stormfly were, too, but not nearly to the extent that my father was. Besides that, his chainmail had kinks in it, and whatever fabric he wore that was unprotected was riddled with tears. His hair was singed at its edges, as was the fur cloak he wore.

He followed my gaze and waved a complacent hand. "Don't worry about me. It's you I'm more concerned about." He looked back out to sea, and his expression grew stormy. With clenched fists, he growled, "They used a _catapult_ on you two."

I looked down at my feet submissively, shoulders hunched. "That…was our fault," I admitted. "We…we should've listened to you. We went looking around their ships, and they caught us."

Dad didn't look too surprised; he only sighed, putting a hand to his head. Astrid bit her lip and held her elbow, clearly wanting to sneak away.

I tensed, waiting for an angry outburst—and one we deserved. Even _Toothless_ lowered his head. After all, this whole mess could have been avoided in the first place if _we_ had been the ones listening. Every injury, every death, every sense of safety lost…it was all because we had to stick our noses where it didn't belong.

In other words, it was all my fault _again._

I was hanging my head like I was about to be banished when Dad finally spoke.

"What's done is done," he sighed. "All we can focus on is what to do next."

Both Astrid and I gaped at him. I'd been expecting yelling, or scolding, or _at least_ a disappointed scowl. The entire thing had been our fault; why wasn't he mad? I _wanted_ him to be mad at me, as stupid as it sounded. I didn't want to just be let off the hook, like it was no big deal that I'd screwed everything up again.

"But…" I returned my gaze to my feet.

Memories flashed just behind reality. Pain. Darkness. A human hand. Snarling and lunging to bite. Monster.

"I'm sorry," I rushed, like I only had one chance. "I didn't know it was you—I didn't mean to growl at you like that, or, or—"

"Hiccup," Dad interrupted in a soft voice. "It's fine. _I'm_ fine. Don't worry, alright?"

I peeked up at him, meeting his eyes. "...alright."

Dad nodded with an obviously-fake smile. He huffed, pretending to readjust his helmet and belt, and then asked in a casual tone, "So what was all that with the dragons? Why'd this one carry Astrid off?"

Toothless and I shared a baffled look, but neither of us were about to beg for a punishment. Dad _was_ right that there were more important things to talk about. Specifically...

"Dad…there were people from _Berk_ fighting our nestmates," I said. "It's not safe for us here."

Even saying it sent a shudder through me. Toothless hissed at nothing, ears pinned.

"That's not true," Dad said, the anger returning to his voice. He crossed his arms and cast a furious look through the village. "I'll work out a punishment for those who betrayed us—something where we can keep them under close watch. What they did was wrong, and I will not tolerate it. I will _not_ have you feel as though you must always look over your shoulder in your own home." He turned back to me, and his expression softened.

"I'm with you on this one, Hiccup. I promise."

I met his eyes, and the tension in my shoulders loosened. A timid smile made its way to my lips. "Thanks, Dad."

He gave me a small, encouraging smile that was almost unrecognizable.

With a wince, I made myself to stand up straighter and a little closer to him. "Still, because of all that, we told our nestmates to stay out of Berk, just until everything clears up."

"That won't work," Astrid blurted. She ducked her head when all of us looked at her. "Sending the dragons away isn't gonna help—it's just gonna make it worse when they come back and people aren't used to them anymore."

As she said this, she put a hand up to Stormfly. Stormfly nuzzled her affectionately, purring at her.

Toothless threw his head in annoyance. " _No safe here!_ "

" _Huh?_ " Stormfly chirped.

"We can't risk people attacking them," I said for Toothless. All of it laid heavy on my shoulders, weighing me down with exhaustion. "A lot of us got hurt, and they won't defend themselves because we told them not to fight the humans."

Both Dad and Astrid stared at me with varying mixtures of confusion and worry.

A moment too late, I realized that I'd just distanced myself from them by referring to "humans" as something other than myself—that I'd _been_ doing that throughout our entire conversation. I tried not to make my guilt too obvious, but I was never good at that sort of thing.

"…Astrid has a point, however," Dad said after a long beat. "If the Bog Burglars return, we have to fight them as one force. We'll never survive if we're too busy fighting each other. Like it or not, we have to stand together against this threat."

"You can't _force_ people to not be afraid of dragons, Dad," I sighed. "And…you can't force dragons to not be afraid of people."

Dad gave me a worn look—it wasn't like I _needed_ to tell him that, after all. "I know, son," he said in a soft voice. "But we have to do something—and soon."

Stormfly gave a loud complaint, throwing her nose against Astrid's hand. Astrid began petting her absentmindedly, forcing Stormfly to twist and turn her head to get the spots she liked.

At first I frowned at the sight; I didn't like the idea of dragons being treated as _pets_ , as dumb animals without thoughts or culture. But taking Stormfly's actions in, I couldn't help but blink and tip my head to the side.

"Maybe…" I turned to Toothless. "We can't force people, but we can ease them into it."

" _Nestmate no here,_ " Toothless reminded me, unwilling to call them back so soon. I nodded and turned back to Dad and Astrid, who were both more than a little confused.

"We'll need your help, Astrid," I said. "And then, if it works, we'll call our nestmates back—but only when we know it's safe for them."

Astrid's eyebrows raised in surprise. "Uh, alright!" She said. "What's your plan?"

"Hold on," Dad said, holding up a hand to her. He faced me and narrowed scrutinizing eyes. "I've been waiting to ask…

"Hiccup, _what_ in Thor's name are you _wearing?_ "

I froze. Toothless inched closer to me, lowering his head just enough to block some of me from view.

There would be no distractions this time—I could tell just by the way Dad was staring at me that he wasn't going to stop until he got his answer. Thinking that I could hide this from him was pretty optimistic, but still…

With a sigh, I nudged Toothless out of the way. Exposed there, I locked up, suddenly overcome with anxiety.

I met my father's eyes, still warm and encouraging even if he was extremely confused. Despite how vulnerable it made me feel, I opened my wings.

Dad connected the dots in moments, his skin paling and his eyes widening.

Nobody said anything. Even Stormfly was baffled, gawking at me like she'd never seen me before.

"Wings," Astrid breathed. "Wait, so did you—were the Bog Burglars right when they said you _flew?_ "

I didn't even look at her, keeping all of my attention on Dad. I couldn't handle it anymore; I clutched my arms together, drawing my wings in.

Dad's eyes were still huge with clear surprise, his expression taut as he tried to process what he'd just seen. When he _finally_ collected himself, the lost way he spoke sent guilt leaching through me.

"So…that's what you've been working on?"

Forcing myself not to look away, I said, "Not _all_ this time, but…"

My voice trailed off. I searched his eyes for disapproval, but he only seemed resigned. I didn't know if that was worse.

"Are you…are you mad?" I murmured.

"No, son…not at all," Dad said in the same tone, looking guilty himself now. "Do they…do they work?"

Toothless purred, pushing his head against mine. I smiled, letting out a breath to relax.

"Y-yeah," I said. With a little more pride, "They do."

Dad's brows drew in with worry. Still, he gave me a weary smile—even though it looked pretty forced. "Well…I'm happy for you, Hiccup. Your hard work's paid off."

I returned the smile, loosening my posture so that my wings weren't completely hidden from sight. "Thanks, Dad. Really, that means…that means a lot to me. And…and I'm really sorry. A-about earlier, I mean." I lowered my eyes. "I didn't…I didn't mean to snap at you like that."

Before I lost my nerve, I reached a hand out.

Dad's eyes lit up, his smile big and real now. He took my palm in his and laid a gentle hand on my shoulder. "Don't worry about it, son. I'm _not_ angry with you."

It was still there—that fear, that primal need to wrench away and snarl at him.

But it wasn't so hard to suppress now.

I let the tension roll off my shoulders, allowing the moment to draw out just long enough. It didn't take long for it to become too much; I began to feel claustrophobic and trapped. I leaned away, and Dad immediately let go of me, stepping back to give me some space.

"A-alright," I stammered.

" _Good, good,_ " Toothless purred encouragingly, nudging me. I pawed at him and turned to Astrid, who was pretending to be fascinated with a nearby tree. She "snapped to attention" right away.

"So...here's my plan."

 **o.O.o**

Astrid

The plan was, in two words, "damage control". It was…the best we had, I guess.

The Chief almost immediately put it on hold, demanding that Hiccup and Toothless get some rest. Both of them were dead on their feet, and it wasn't really that much of a surprise. Pulling an all-nighter was hard enough, but _both_ of them had been physically taxed as well. Especially Hiccup, who was still recovering from when he'd been captured last week.

Neither of them had even tried to refuse, which was proof enough of just how tired they were. So, for the time being, the Chief escorted them back to their house while I went into the village and got the others. After explaining everything, they headed off to the outskirts of the village with their dragons to wait until everyone could get together.

I met up with Hiccup, Toothless, and the Chief just at midday a few hours later. We stood at the lonely road that lead to the Chief's house on the outer flanks of the village.

"Hey!" I said, waving. Stormfly let out a huge screech, bouncing up and down.

Hiccup grinned and returned the wave. Toothless watched him with a small amount of confusion, head tipped to the side, and then nudged Hiccup and said something.

"Hello, Astrid," the Chief said. "Thanks for meeting us here. I'm off to go speak to Gobber about punishments." He turned to Hiccup. "Are you _sure_ you don't want me there?"

"Yes," Hiccup groaned in exasperation, having probably been asked that question several times now judging by his tone. "We'll be fine, Dad."

The Chief looked incredibly worried, but nodded anyways—everyone knew he couldn't guard Hiccup all day long. "Alright. I'll be in the area. Come find me if there's any problem, alright?"

"We will," Hiccup said. He actually sounded like he meant it, and this drew a small smile from the Chief.

We parted ways, the Chief heading in one direction and Hiccup, Toothless, Stormfly, and I in the opposite. Hiccup was seated atop Toothless, and I could hear them murmuring to each other in hushed croons and purrs. Every now and then, Stormfly would chirp at them. More than once I almost built up the courage to interrupt them, but I always bailed at the last second.

I lasted a few minutes before it got unbearably awkward. "So," I said, trying to keep nonchalant. "How are things...going?"

Hiccup stopped mid-sentence and sent me a surprised look, like he'd forgotten I was there. "Do you mean...with Dad, or…?"

"Everything, really," I said. "You've been cooped up in the forge for awhile now. I was kinda starting to wonder if you two were still alive."

"Alive and kicking," he said wearily. "But we're doing okay. Thank you for asking, Astrid." He shifted around, and said, "So, how...are you…?"

"Alive and kicking," I said with a small grin. "Waking up to the Bog Burglars invading was both really cool and really scary."

"Mostly scary," Hiccup mumbled. Toothless purred at him, and he drooped. "I keep feeling like we're just making this huge string of mistakes. Like everything we do is the wrong thing."

I was already shaking my head before he'd finished speaking. "The Bog Burglars were getting on Berk one way or another, and they were looking for a fight," I said. "I mean, it was _pretty_ stupid of you two to take a tour of their ships. But you didn't _make_ them come, Hiccup. And they were the ones to attack first."

He looked up at the empty sky. In a soft voice, he said, "I just hope we don't make everything worse again."

Toothless purred at him, and he straightened up more.

"We just gotta get this to work," I pressed. "People are stubborn, but opinions can still change."

"For once, it's not just the people I'm worried about," Hiccup said with a humorless chuckle. "We're sitting ducks for the raiding dragons in the north. And I don't even know what to think of the ones from the Bog Burglar's ship."

My brow scrunched together. I honestly had forgotten about them, seeing as they'd just flown away. "What about them?"

Toothless rumbled, throwing his head and swinging his tail. Hiccup nodded.

"There's something _wrong_ with them," he said.

We rounded a corner. Dragons leapt up into view, lounging in the streets.

It took everyone a few seconds to notice us and run over.

"He-ey, Hiccup! Long time no see!" Snotlout shouted. He raised his hand for a high-five, and when Hiccup leaned away in surprise, he pretended to readjust his helmet. "That's fine, that's cool…so you finally realized ya miss good 'ol Snotlout? Ya know, you've missed out on some good times with me and Hookie!"

Toothless rolled his eyes so pointedly that it could be seen for miles. Hiccup pressed his lips together and shrunk against his friend's back some more.

"You named him…'Hookie'?" Hiccup drawled, raising an eyebrow at the dragon in question.

Hookfang was currently getting chased in circles around Meatlug by Stormfly. Barf and Belch sat just away from them with narrowed eyes, occasionally snapping at them.

"What? No!" Snotlout exclaimed. "His name's Hookfang! Pretty cool, am I right? A lot more fearsome and manly than 'Toothless'."

Toothless snarled, baring gleaming teeth. Snotlout squeaked and leapt behind the twins.

"Anyways," I interrupted.

"Right, anyways, uh…" Hiccup began. "We need all of your help. If you don't mind, I mean."

"Finally, he recognizes _notre excellence!_ " Tuffnut chimed in. "Do tell, oh reclusive dragon-boy!"

"Yeah, we need some excitement after we missed out on that battle! We totally slept through it!" Ruffnut complained.

Hiccup waited for the punchline, realized that she wasn't joking, and stared in disbelief. Toothless' eyes were half-lidded, one brow raised. He was actually looking _past_ the twins, like he couldn't bother to focus his attention on them.

"What is it, Hiccup?" Fishlegs asked, stepping closer and bringing some actual sense to the conversation. He held up his notebook and said, "I've been taking a lot of notes from things I've learned from Meatlug, in case you want to read them. Not that it's all stuff you don't, uh, already know." He laughed nervously and rubbed his neck. "Uh, sorry."

"Don't worry," Hiccup said. "So…if you guys don't mind, we need help with the tension between Vikings and dragons—"

"Oooh, so you need us to do some _convincing_ ," Snotlout drew out, rolling his sleeves up and cracking his knuckles with a smirk. "Leave it to me, little cousin. Snotlout's gonna hook ya up with Hookfang, and then we can call ourselves even for everything, alright?"

"What? Uh, no—I mean—" Hiccup stammered. "We're not 'convincing' peoplelike _that._ "

"I wholesomely agree!" Tuffnut said, putting a finger to his chin. "I do believe this will require some _subtilité_."

"What language is that?" Ruffnut asked, staring at her twin like he was…well, speaking another language.

" _Anyways!_ " I raised my voice, sending them all a glare to shut them up. "Hiccup, you were saying?"

By the grace of Thor, everyone managed to stay quiet while Hiccup explained his idea to them. When he was finished, all of them looked as excited about it as I did—even the twins.

"That's, uh…" Fishlegs tapped his fingers together. "I'm not really sure…how well that'll…work?"

"Yeah, it's kinda lame," Snotlout said.

Hiccup cringed, sending lines across his face that accentuated the bags under his eyes. Toothless threw his head and said something to him, and he perked up a little.

"It's better than nothing," I said. "Any of you got a better idea?"

Nobody said anything, sending each other helpless looks.

"Alright," I said. "Let's go, then."

We were mingling a little outside of the center of Berk—but now we made our way further into it, towards the center.

After the battle, nobody was feeling up to going back to work, which meant that a lot of people were lingering outside talking to each other. Word of what the Bog Burglars had said had surely reached anyone who hadn't heard it, and a blanket of tension had laid over Berk all day. Even more people than usual were outside, staring up at the bright mid-afternoon sky. It took me a second to realize: they were looking for the dragons. Some seemed confused, some disappointed, some relieved.

I glanced at Hiccup and Toothless as we approached. Hiccup looked incredibly apprehensive, holding tight onto Toothless. Toothless had his ears pinned and his eyes narrowed, ready to spring away at a moment's notice. It seemed like sleeping had done them well physically, but not so much mentally.

As big as our group was, we very quickly gained the attention of everyone in the area. The village fell silent. Normally we could always hear dragons flying and scrabbling on the roofs and chirping, but now it was just…empty.

We stopped right in the middle of the village square, our dragons at our sides and confused, suspicious villagers staring at us.

Hiccup took a deep breath and put on a brave face. He sat up straighter on Toothless' back and glanced around.

"Um…hey," He began, and then grimaced at his stellar introduction. Shaking it off, he began, "I know a lot of you—"

"Who wants to pet a dragon?!" Tuffnut hollered.

Toothless yelped and spun around. The other dragons scrambled, running into each other and trying to position themselves at his side.

" _Tuffnut!_ " Fishlegs and I hissed.

The village was still completely quiet, but now it was a lot more awkward. Hiccup sighed, sharing a look with Toothless. His friend gave a subtle nod, and he straightened up again.

"I want to be honest with you," Hiccup told them. He winced. "The Bog Burglars did attack us because of me and Toothless."

Silence.

"B-but," Hiccup said, starting to get nervous by the tough crowd, "we have to stand together. I—"

"Hold on!" Someone spoke up, stepping out from the crowd. It was Bergthora—my old mentor from when I'd briefly been forced into a bread-making apprenticeship. She raised an inquisitive eyebrow and asked, "What's this about _pettin'_ dragons?"

Hiccup was already shaking his head. "Uh, that's actually not—"

"Step right up!" Tuffnut shouted, throwing his hands in the air. "Barf and Belch, at your service!" As he spoke, he grabbed his dragon's leg and pulled, ushering him closer to the crowd. Barf and Belch turned to Hiccup and Toothless and squawked.

Hiccup dropped his head and groaned just loud enough for me to hear, "Oh, Dragon of the Sun."

"Sorry," I whispered to him. "I didn't know how to _not_ include him if Ruffnut was coming."

"I heard that!" Tuffnut said, still shouting. "But I don't care! Barf, Belch, give them a hearty welcome!" He gestured dramatically at the crowd, flapping his arms around.

The Zippleback's heads looked at each other and then at Hiccup and Toothless. Toothless said something, and Barf and Belch tipped their heads to the side.

The dragon leaned down, gently picked Tuffnut up by his shirt, and set him down on his back.

"Barf, _no!_ Bad dragon! I'm trying to make them _like_ you!" Tuffnut complained. He tried to leap off, and Barf and Belch opened their wing and trapped him underneath it, folding it over him. His shouting went from loud and piercing to muffled and tolerable.

Barf and Belch looked to Hiccup and Toothless for approval. Hiccup had his head in his hand, but Toothless looked pretty smug.

Back to silence we went.

Gods, you could almost cut the awkwardness with a knife.

"Look," Hiccup said. "I know…I know that all of you are afraid. I know that because _I_ am, too." He paused, searching through the crowd. "Our nestmates fought off the Bog Burglars just like all of you, but… some of you still don't trust them, even when they were helping us."

Some villagers made a big show of brushing his words off. Others glanced at each other guiltily.

"This has to stop," Hiccup said. "If the Bog Burglars come back, we can't keep turning on each other. We can't keep living in this constant fear." He wilted, looking down at his hands, and lowered his voice. "I know _I_ can't."

With a small moan, Hiccup swung a leg around and slid off of Toothless. He then turned and gestured to Stormfly. She bounced forward with enthusiasm, chest puffed up with pride.

"So…I want all of you to meet a dragon."

"Bah!" A man said. "I've met plenty already, thanks."

I made my way to Hiccup and Toothless' side. "Just try!" I said. "Think about it—Stormfly here always tries to protect me. Don't you want the dragons to _want_ to protect Berk, too?" I narrowed my eyes. "Or do you want them to doubt us, and be more ready to turn on us?"

" _Astrid!_ " Hiccup hissed, his eyes wide with horror. Toothless just barely raised his lip at me, leering with distrust.

All three of us knew what I'd said was a lie—that the dragons would never defy a direct order from Hiccup and Toothless to stand down.

The rest of Berk did not.

And it made an impact.

Suspicious gazes turned on the dragons, but now with just a bit more urgency. Now people realized that they could benefit from them, rather than the dragons only being a dangerous nuisance.

"You all saw how well the dragons fought the Bog Burglars!" I said. "So many people could have died if they hadn't come when they had! Do you want to lose that protection? Because fighting them is a great way to do that!"

I pointed at Hiccup, and he leaned away with wide eyes. "Hiccup is _trying_ to stop that from happening. So if you want Berk to be protected from the Bog Burglars and their allies, I'd suggest you start listening to him."

The same man as before snorted. "We don't need help from dragons!" He growled. "We never did."

With that, he turned on his heel and left.

One by one, more and more villagers followed suit, turning their backs on us.

"Welp, that worked," Snotlout muttered.

"Quiet!" Fishlegs snapped.

Trying not to sound too unsurprised, I turned to Hiccup and said, "I'm sorry. I thought that maybe I could give them more incentive. Other than just _wanting_ peace, I mean."

"It's fine," Hiccup said sullenly, looking down at his hands. He and Toothless leaned against each other, the both of them looking more and more defeated with each villager that didn't even try to make an effort. "You're right. Some people _don't_ want peace. They just…"

He shrugged and shook his head, looking away.

"They just want to hate dragons."

I said nothing, holding a hand out to Stormfly and letting her rub her head against my shoulder. Even in the wake of a victorious battle aided greatly by dragons, some Vikings _still_ wanted nothing to do with them.

But…

"Not everyone feels that way, Hiccup," I said, straightening up. "Look!"

Hiccup's head snapped up. His eyes lit up.

A large majority of the bystanders had disappeared...but there was still those willing to change left behind. It wasn't even close to half the original size of the group— _maybe_ a third. But it was still a start.

Bergthora was one of them. She looked around her, shrugged, and approached us.

"So, then," she said. "Ya want us to meet a dragon?"

 **o.O.o**

One by one, each Viking was introduced to our dragons. Stormfly was first, of course, followed by Meatlug, Hookfang, and Barf and Belch in no particular order. Hiccup and Toothless hovered and observed, with Hiccup finding the courage to reach out—literally—and help many villagers make the first step towards accepting the dragons.

Over and over he initiated contact, bringing himself within the striking range of the very people who had once hunted him down like a wild animal. The action still seemed to terrify him—but he pushed on anyways, only stopping a few times to retreat and take a moment to recollect himself. Toothless never once left his side, and spoke constantly to the dragons.

Still, there were so few people willing to move forward that not even a few hours had passed before we had exhausted our supply. Once the spectacle was over, we mingled in the crosswalks, hoping that word of our little "Dragon Initiation Group" would travel and bring with it more people.

Stormfly was _ecstatic_ to have all of the attention—so much so that I was starting to get worried that she'd approach just about any villager that came up to her. I had to wrangle her back to the general central area we were in a couple times. She was so enthusiastic that she even begged little kids for attention.

I actually was letting said kids sit on her back when Hiccup let out a surprised yelp.

"D-Dogsbreath?"

I whipped around. Stormfly chirped happily and trotted right up to him, the children on her back squealing with excitement and their parents scrambling after her.

She stopped just in front of Dogsbreath, who merely narrowed amber eyes at her with a tense jaw. Hiccup and Toothless rushed forward to stand beside her, both of them not-so-subtly blocking her from getting closer to him. I was right at their heels, wildly pulling at Stormfly to get her to hold still long enough to grab the children off of her.

Dogsbreath raised a brow at all of us. "Calm down," he said gruffly. "I'm not going to attack ya, even if yer the one responsible for this whole mess."

Hiccup and Toothless shared a look, the former immensely guilty and the latter unreadable. Clearing his throat, Hiccup said, "Are you here to…help…?"

He scoffed. "Help _you?_ No, I'm here fer myself and my family."

He pointed at Stormfly.

"I want one."

Hiccup's expression went slack. I grabbed hold of Stormfly as she lunged for his hand, but it was no use—she nosed his hand and then whined when he snapped it away.

"W-what do you _mean_ , you _want_ one?" Hiccup stammered, sounding almost offended. Toothless growled.

"Exactly what I just said," Dogsbreath said. He pinned me with his eyes. "Yer dragon is fiercely loyal to ya—I saw that myself when she protected ya at the smithy. And the dragons ended the battle with the Bog Burglars almost as soon as it began." He crossed his arm across his chest, pretending to be nonchalant, and grunted, "What with the Bog Burglars and their allies threatenin' war with us, I'd like to have some extra protection."

I had no clue what to say; did he think that I'd just hand Stormfly over or something? "That's not…uh, Hiccup?"

"Dragons aren't pets," he said, his voice uncharacteristically hard and his gaze stern. "And they aren't tools."

Toothless growled and opened his wings.

"Yes, yes, we have ta make 'friends' with 'em," Dogsbreath said with a roll of his eyes. "And if that means I can rest a little easier knowin' a dragon's loyal to me and my family, then that's what I'll do."

"Then ya picked the right guys!" Snotlout interrupted, sauntering over like it was no big deal. "Might I interest you in the noble Monstrous Nightmare?"

He gestured in a wide swoop at Hookfang, who was currently hiding behind Barf and Belch with his head low. He was much more shy than the other dragons, and had spent the better part of the last thirty minutes running away from anyone who came close to him.

Dogsbreath grinned. "Aye, that'll do."

"Hold on!" Hiccup said, batting at the air in an odd, distracting manner. "It's not that simple. You can't just be _given_ a dragon."

"Well, why not?" Dogsbreath said.

"B-because—!" Hiccup spluttered, aghast. "That's like me telling a Flame-Skin I'll _give_ him a human for protection!"

Toothless hissed for real this time, tail swaying back and forth. Stormfly stood up straighter and backed away, keening and shooting wide-eyed looks between me and Hiccup and Toothless.

Dogsbreath didn't look too convinced, one eyebrow raised and mouth pursed. "Dragons aren't people. We might as well use 'em fer what they're good fer."

My heart dropped as Toothless' growling intensified, his ears pinned and eyes slits. Hiccup lowered his head, nose wrinkled and teeth bared.

"Woah, woah!" I shouted, stepping between the dragons and Dogsbreath before the whole situation devolved. "Everybody just calm down, okay?"

Hiccup was already leering at his feet in shame, while Toothless lifted his head high and stared down his nose at Dogsbreath. Stormfly was lingering uncertainly behind us, head tipped to the side and wings fluttering.

"Okay," I breathed. Facing Dogsbreath, I said, "Stormfly protects me because we're _friends._ I've spent a lot of time with her, getting to know her and building trust with her. _That's_ how you get a dragon to protect you—not just grabbing one and forcing it."

"Hm," he said. "So where can I find one, then? They've all gone."

"Oh, oh!" Ruffnut piped up from behind me. "Dragon spotted!"

She pointed at some buildings, and I automatically looked at their rooftops. After a solid second of fruitless searching, I was a little annoyed that she'd decided to make a joke now, of all times. Then I trailed my eyes down and saw it.

Hidden beneath a cart was that scrawny, one-winged Terror that had approached Hiccup at the smithy awhile back. The poor thing must've been left behind, unable to fly away like the rest of the dragons. It took quick notice of our attention on it and huddled deeper in the shadows.

"That one's puny," Dogsbreath complained. "I need somethin' big."

"No—" Hiccup began, and I slapped a hand over his mouth. He flinched away with the same yelp I always heard from Stormfly.

"A moment, please?" I said between clenched teeth, nodding off to the side. Without waiting for an answer, I sent Dogsbreath a smile and stepped away, waiting for Hiccup and Toothless to follow me.

I had never seen him so upset before, his jaw clenched, his lip raised, his eyes nearly slits. His words came out rattled, and during each pause between breaths, he made a distinct rumblingsound. "Astrid, dragons aren't tame!" He whisper-yelled at me, teeth bared and head lowered. He had his arms held out like half-opened wings prepared for flight, but luckily, the ones he'd made were tucked into his suit. "They're people just like us, and—"

"I know, I know," I soothed in the same voice I used to calm Stormfly down, holding my palms up to him. In a hush, I said, "Hiccup, you're _growling._ "

The anger snapped out of him, his eyes huge and his limbs locking in place. A moment passed.

Hiccup loosened his battle stance and clutched his arms to his chest, grimacing and deflating twice in size. "S-sorry," he mumbled. "I just…I don't want our nestmates to be treated like dumb work animals or—or just… _things._ Like they don't have any choice."

"Me neither," I said. "But this is a good opportunity. He _wants_ to be around dragons, Hiccup! This is huge!"

"Yeah, but for all the wrong reasons," Hiccup said in a low voice. Toothless snorted with agreement, shaking his head deliberately.

"I think it's worth the shot," I said. "If it doesn't work, then the Terror can just leave him. But if it _does_ work, then more people will want to make friends with dragons."

Hiccup shook his head, shoulders drooping. "They've already spent all of their lives as slaves, Astrid," he whispered. He clenched his hands together and his voice wavered. "I don't—we're _not_ going to be the ones to let it happen all over again to them." His next sentence came out tight with anxiety and determination, "We're _not_ going to be like the Queen!"

Toothless growled, his eyes aflame.

I hesitated. Very, very slowly, I put a hand on Hiccup's shoulder.

He jumped like I'd thrown a punch at him, and Toothless lifted his wings and hissed. Still, Hiccup relaxed with visible effort, staring into me with such confliction that I started to feel _seriously_ bad. I hadn't realized there was _this_ much complexity to this situation—I'd just assumed that dragons were…well, _just_ dragons. Yes, the smarter ones understood Norse—but in my mind, they had always still been _dragons._

For the first time, I wondered if Stormfly felt forced to do what I wanted.

"Okay," I said, picking each word as carefully as I could. "I'm sorry, I…I didn't realize it was this serious. But you gotta calm down—both of you." I glanced at a furious Toothless as I said this. "You're both riled up right now, and that's not gonna help anything."

Looking over my shoulder, I could still see the little Terror hiding beneath the cart. Now it was poking its head out of its shelter, eyes locked onto us.

"You don't have to force anyone to do anything," I said. "Can't you just ask? The dragons want peace too, right?"

The fear and frustration in Hiccup's eyes wavered, and he glanced uncertainly at Toothless. "What do you think?"

Judging by the burning glare and snarling, Toothless had _plenty_ of thoughts about it.

"I don't know, Astrid…" Hiccup sighed.

"Try?" I encouraged. "If it doesn't want to, then no harm done, right? But if it works, a lot more people might actually _want_ to live with dragons—not just tolerate them in the village."

Pressing his lips together, Hiccup looked back at his companion. Toothless straightened his posture and huffed, shaking his head.

Then, very reluctantly, he called out to the Terror.

The Terror shot up like an arrow with a surprised squawk. It kicked up a cloud of dust scampering over, its single wing flapping frantically, and then did that weird bowing thing the dragons always did around Hiccup and Toothless.

Toothless crooned and warbled at it. Hiccup began to do the same—then came to an abrupt stop, wheeling around to see if anyone had noticed. The Terror's head was a blur as it looked between the two. I hadn't even had the time to ask him what was going on the Terror squinted over at Dogsbreath, head cocked to the side, and yelped at Hiccup. Hiccup waited for clarification from Toothless and nodded.

Puffing its chest up, the Terror yipped and bowed again. It set its little feet in obvious determination and growled, its single wing fully opened and its tail sticking straight up.

Hiccup actually smiled at this. Toothless' eyes widened in clear surprise; he seemed to have thought that the Terror would refuse.

"Okay," Hiccup said, taken off-guard himself. "He says he'll try."

"R-really?" I asked, trying not to sound too relieved.

"I think he thinks it's a special mission," Hiccup said. He held his arms out and let the Terror jump into them.

The Terror certainly _looked_ serious enough for it to be one. Toothless crooned at it, and it squawked and did everything it could to make itself look bigger.

Nodding for me to follow, Hiccup made his way back over to Dogsbreath—who now had a sizable crowd around him.

"Well, ya certainly took yer time, didn't ya?" Dogsbreath snorted.

"Here's the deal," Hiccup said, suddenly just as serious as the Terror. "This Little—this Terrible Terror wants to…work with you. He's agreed to go with you."

Both Toothless and I looked to him with wide eyes. His companion seemed to recover quickly, though, returning his attention to Dogsbreath with a stern expression.

"I wanted something bigger," Dogsbreath huffed. "At least Gronckle-sized. Somethin' good and strong, able to carry my children away if needed."

"Well, this Terror is the only dragon who wants to go near you," Hiccup snapped. He cringed and took in a slow breath. "S-sorry. But this is just how it works. You can't _pick_ a dragon to like you, just like you can't pickpeople to be your friends."

Dogsbreath scrutinized the Terror with clear disappointment. He lifted his eyes in search of dragons that were not here, and then studied the Terror some more.

The seasoned warrior gave a huge sigh, crossing his arms. "Very well, then. Better than nothin'."

"You have to treat him with respect," Hiccup persisted. "If you act like he's some work animal, he'll run away and never look back."

"Alright," Dogsbreath said offhandedly. "Hand 'em over."

" _Promise_ ," Hiccup said, holding the Terror closer to his chest. He stared up at Dogsbreath with an intensity that I had not seen in him in a very long time. "Promise to treat him as an equal, and not a pet."

Dogsbreath's hard expression loosened as Hiccup's determined, almost frightened gaze bored into him. I didn't blame him, to be honest. We were all used to Hiccup being a mediator, and never once had he outright _demanded_ that someone listen to him.

A nerve had been struck _hard_ , and it was obvious.

Dogsbreath straightened his posture, just as surprised by Hiccup's aggressive persistence as me. "I promise," he said, the dismissiveness in his voice gone. "I will treat him well."

Hiccup eyed him carefully. After several seconds, he reluctantly held the Terror out. Dogsbreath lifted his arms, his hands just besides Hiccup's.

With a final, fleeting glance at Hiccup, the Terror inched a paw out and pressed it into Dogsbreath's palm. He waited, peeking up at Dogsbreath, and took a few more careful steps up his arm. With a squeak, the little dragon clambered up the rest of the way.

Dogsbreath did his best to look casual about it, but still couldn't hide a wince when the Terror nestled into the crook of his neck.

"Take good care of him," Hiccup said. His brows lowered over his eyes, worry aging him in seconds. A pleading tone replaced his earlier confidence. "…Please."

Toothless lifted his head and took a single step closer, showing all of his teeth and hissing. It was a promise of what was to come if Dogsbreath went back on his word.

"Don't ya worry," Dogsbreath said. He met the Terror's eyes. "I doubt this little thing will cause much trouble." He spun on his ankle, took a few steps away, and stopped. He tilted his head just enough that he could see us in the corner of his eye. "But…thank you."

He said nothing more, heading off with the one-winged Terror perched on his shoulder.

Toothless pressed up against Hiccup with a quiet rumble, wings twitching and tail swaying. He didn't relax until Hiccup returned the gesture. They never let their eyes leave the Terror, so solemn and nervous that it was like they thought that it would be the last time they ever saw him.

The tiny thing twisted his neck around and gave a long outcry.

"Good luck to you, too," Hiccup whispered.

 **o.O.o**

Toothless

I couldn't believe it.

That Little-Biter was either very brave or very stupid. Or both. Regardless, he had chosen to go with the human "Dog's-Breath" on his own accord, and the only way I could prevent it now was through a direct order.

To think that that human wanted to _use_ our nestmates, to all but fake a bond for protection…

Yet the Little-Biter was determined, and had claimed that this was one of the few ways he could be "useful". No amount of me telling him that there was no need to prove himself had convinced him otherwise.

I wasn't about to sit around and hope that he was successful, however.

"Dog's-Breath" was just out of sight when I tugged on Hiccup's fake furs.

" _Up_ ," I said. " _Us go. Me worried and no certain. See human and Little-Biter, see safe?_ "

Relief loosened his tense posture and he nodded. "Yeah—I'm sorry, Astrid, but we have to go."

One would have thought he'd told her he was leaving forever, she was so disappointed. "But there's still some people around. Maybe you can stay a little? This is going really well, Hiccup."

" _Oh, no_ ," I said in a flat voice. "Here is an excuse to avoid more social interaction. What a shame. How unfortunate. My heart bleeds at thought of leaving."

Hiccup's brows scrunched up in confusion at my speaking in normal dragon tongue, but he caught on quick enough. "Oh, uh, we _really_ have to go, though," he said, doing his best to look truthful. He overcompensated, eyes wide and bouncing on his feet and avoiding eye contact.

I _really_ had to teach him how to bluff. The poor Shadow-Blender couldn't lie if his life depended on it.

"What's he saying?" Astrid asked, curious now.

"I'm rather hungry," I mused. "I'd like to go on a hunt, but it's a tad cold to go swimming. I suppose I must settle for human-caught fish, although it is far inferior to fresh-caught."

"We're in a rush," Hiccup "translated". He hopped up onto my shoulders to avoid her intense stare. "We, uh…have to check on our nestmates!"

He gave his excuse too fast. Astrid raised an eyebrow.

" _Sure_ ," she drawled. "Just like I have to check on Stormfly right over there?"

Hiccup stammered, knowing just as well as Astrid that she had caught him in his lie…if one could even call it that.

Luckily for him, I didn't care about social conventions and proper manners. We simply didn't have the time for it.

"I'm done. Bye!" I chirped. With that, I opened my wings and launched us at the nearest tree-cave, even as Astrid shouted complaints below. Once we got to the top, I leapt over its peak and crouched on the other side, out of sight.

"That was kinda rude," Hiccup said, tugging at my ear. I could still hear the smile in his voice.

" _Huh?!_ " I gasped. " _Oh, no!_ Whatever shall we do?!"

"You know she's just gonna find us later, right?" Hiccup snorted.

If it were up to Hiccup, we'd still be down there right now. " _You speak more_ ," I said. " _No want wait. Me fast. You slow._ "

" _Me_ good _,_ " he retorted in his squeaky fledgling voice. I snickered, earning myself another ear-tug.

As we bantered, I took us from wood-cave to wood-cave, keeping on the opposite side that the humans had been on to avoid drawing attention. It was lonely, not seeing any of our nestmates up here. It was like visiting a nest long-since abandoned, only finding shed scales and pawprints in the place of warm, living dragons.

Despite my apprehension, I sent a prayer up to the Dragon of the Sun that this plan would work. I didn't want us to be here without our nestmates, alone and vulnerable and missing them.

We actually beat "Dog's-Breath" to his tree-cave, resulting in the two of us settling down outside it and poking our noses just enough over our cover to have a good view of it.

After several invigorating minutes of staring at nothing, Hiccup bolted upright. " _See dragon!_ "

" _What?_ " I gasped, craning my neck to the sky. Our nestmates were on the opposite end of the island; was it an intruding dragon, flying above in broad daylight?

I looked over my shoulder and furrowed my brows at seeing Hiccup pointing _down._

" _Confused?_ " I hummed. " _No see...oh!_ " I let myself relax a bit. " _H-u-m-a-n_ ," I drew out.

" _Dragon?"_ Hiccup repeated.

" _No, h-u-m-a-n._ "

" _D-r-a-g-o-n!_ " Hiccup said with much more confidence. I couldn't hold back a small laugh, and he groaned, "Am I messing it up again?"

I nodded, sending a smirk over my shoulder at him. "Good try, though! Sort of."

His skin was pink, and he lowered his head in embarrassment. "Yeah, yeah, I'll work on it," he grumbled. "Anyways, Dogsbreath's over there."

Wait, what?!

I threw us back under cover, eyes wide. Hiccup laughed, and I flapped him with an ear.

I'd been so busy looking for an attacking dragon that I'd all but ignored "Dog's-Breath"—and the Little-Biter curled up on his shoulder, almost out of sight. He was being given the same wide girth that Hiccup and I usually got, and many humans were staring openmouthed. He kept his head high, lips pursed and eyes half-lidded, walking at a rather slow pace in an effort to look calm and in-control.

The Little-Biter squeaked something at him, and he jumped in place.

We waited, still as mountains, as the human approached. He was too busy focusing on the Little-Biter to notice us, thank the gods. We weren't exactly well-hidden, being the only dragons in all of Berk sitting on top of a wood-cave in the middle of the day.

 _BANG!_

I nearly leapt off of the wood-cave. A little human burst out of it, rushing at "Dog's-Breath" on stumpy legs.

" _Daddy!_ " She cried. She threw herself at his leg and wrapped her paws around it, resting her chin on his knee to stare up at him. "Whats'at?"

A second later, a slightly bigger, but still tiny human chased after her. "Wait up, Gunvor!"

The human's eyes filled with warmth and compassion as he crouched down to their eye level. "Settle down, you two," he laughed. "Look what I've got you."

He reached over and picked up the very confused Little-Biter, setting him on his knee so they could get a look.

The younger human gasped with joy, but the older took several steps away.

"D-Dad?" He whimpered, his hazel eyes huge and little body shaking. "Aren't dragons mean?"

Hiccup leaned forward, lifting himself a little higher.

"Dog's-Breath" frowned, his expression blank and difficult to read. "They can be, Hemming." He gave a sigh. "But people can be, too."

I took in a breath, sharing an intrigued look with Hiccup.

"Do we keep 'em?" The youngest asked. "Can I name him? Can I name him?"

A _name?_ I snorted indignantly; dragons did not earn names until they achieved greatness. Humans really _did_ throw names at just about anything.

"We all can," her father said. "A big, strong name. What do you two think?"

The eldest crept forward, holding his paws close together. He raised a paw and stretched it all the way to the Little-Biter. The Little-Biter widened his eyes in confusion and leaned back. The little human didn't seem to notice, prodding him right on the nose.

The Little-Biter sneezed. "Ugh!" He complained. "Why are you like this?"

The two human fledglings laughed. The youngest flung a paw out and grabbed onto the Little-Biter's paw, wrapping her claws around his leg and dragging him forward.

"I wanna hold him!" She said.

"Lemme go!" The Little-Biter squeaked, flapping his wing and pulling backwards. "That hurts!"

I narrowed my eyes and shifted my weight so that I could pounce.

"Hold on, now!" "Dog's-Breath" reprimanded. He pried the human's paw away from the Little-Biter, who wasted no time in leaping back up onto his shoulder. "This isn't a toy, Gunvor. It's a dragon, and we must treat it well."

He hesitated, and then lifted his own paw to the Little-Biter.

The Little-Biter narrowed his eyes and flared his nostrils in irritation. "You're lucky this is a mission!" He huffed. Instead of biting or pushing away, he licked the human paw in front of him and sat back with a proud, dignified smile. "See?"

"See?" The strange human repeated unknowingly. "We must be gentle. Then he will like you, and take good care of you two when I'm not able to."

"Okay…" the older human said. He still looked uncertain, peering up at the Little-Biter like he was three times bigger. "But...can he sleep in your room?"

"I wanna name him!" The younger reminded everybody. "I got a really good one!"

"Dog's-Breath" grinned broadly. "Oh, Thor, _another_ one of your ideas? What is it?"

The little human crouched and waited for dramatic effect.

" _Noodles!_ " She announced for the whole damn island to know, throwing her paws up and leaping in place. "Just like on the big ship!"

Hiccup snickered, covering his mouth with a paw to muffle the sound.

" _What?_ " I asked. The word sounded rather silly, but "Dog's-Breath" had wanted a "big, strong name"...for a Little-Biter.

"It's a type of food," Hiccup explained. "Trader Johann brings them from far away sometimes."

They named him...after food. The fact that he was getting a name from some humans was bad enough!

"What, are they planning on eating him?!" I growled.

During our brief conversation, the humans had discussed the matter further—and it seemed they'd settled on the ridiculous name. For once, I was grateful that the Little-Biter had no understanding of human speech; otherwise he'd be mortified, and would probably call off his "mission" right then and there.

Actually…

" _Me speak Little-Biter_ ," I said. "I think he deserves to know what a terrible name they've given him."

" _No_ ," Hiccup reprimanded. " _They go n'st_."

" _Nest,_ " I mumbled, eyes trailing after the humans as they did just that. "Dog's-Breath" waited for his fledglings to enter his nest first and then closed the barrier to the outside, blocking him and the Little-Biter from sight.

Hiccup sat up and let out a breath. " _No...bad?_ " He said. "I guess it could be worse."

I nodded. " _Me worried._.. _no like this. Want see Little-Biter._ "

" _It is fine_ ," my brother crooned, wrapping his paws around my neck.

I purred, closing my eyes. Maybe...maybe it would be fine, then. There wasn't much we could do, anyways; the Little-Biter had dived nose-first into the mission, and the humans seemed, at a glance, to be following through on their promises.

I didn't like it, leaving the Little-Biter all by himself while the rest of our nestmates remained safe and together, comforted by each other's presence. But if this worked...if we could somehow find a way for humans to not only tolerate, but _accept_ dragons into their nest…

Well, I would wait to see if this "mission" was successful before I got my hopes up.

Regardless, it was certainly an endearing thought.

 **o.O.o**

A few days passed.

Hiccup, Astrid, Stormfly, the other humans, and I made some additional rounds around the nest, trying to convince the humans of Berk to be more trusting and comfortable around dragons. The King accompanied us each time as well, which really only made everything more awkward. Hiccup appreciated him being there, though—if only for the intentions behind the King's actions.

Each visit was shorter than the last. Fewer and fewer humans were so easily assuaged, and oftentimes the only ones whom responded to us were humans who had already shown themselves to be willing to be closer to dragons.

It wasn't working—not how we wanted it to. Opinions had been shifted, yes...but not on the scale that we had hoped. Every "tour" invariably brought with it dissenters, and loud ones at that. All it took was one strong, outspoken voice to convince bystanders, bringing us to a standstill.

Hiccup and I spent our remaining time in the smoke-cave, both to work and to try and not disrupt the fragile peace that greeted us in the human nest. The absence of our nestmates was horrible, forcing us to be on our guard at all times. Every eye was always trained on us, every paw twitching towards a weapon.

To add to the tension stalking our every footstep, there was no signs of any further intruding dragons or humans. At times, my thoughts drifted back to the foreign, singing dragons, almost like an insect draws close to a fire; helpless, yet dragged by some unseen force to its demise. The more I thought of them, the more I got a sense of _wrong._

Hiccup and I had requested a small group of dragons to go in search of answers, but they had yet to return with news. They likely would not for a few more days, seeing as they would be forced to check other islands.

I felt as though I was forgetting something incredibly important.

So, with the threat of humans and foreign dragons combined, we were a little jittery by the end of the third day.

" _Wah!_ " Hiccup yelped, leaping away from an abrupt sound off to our right. I dropped into a crouch and snarled.

"What?!" The King gasped, settling into a battle stance.

"Gobber" held his paws up, eyes wide. "Woah, woah, woah!" He said. "Settle down! A little noise didn't hurt anybody."

I raised a lip at him as he bent down and picked up the metal object that he'd dropped. Easy for _him_ to say.

"Uh, sorry," Hiccup said. He sent me an embarrassed look and returned to his work. I tried to peer over at it, but he was sitting too far away and his small frame blocked it. He'd told me that he'd had second thoughts about his "other secret" and had to "fix it", and thus had put me in time-out.

Literally.

The moment he caught me snooping, he'd swat me away with obscene claims that I was "ruining the surprise". It was driving me _insane!_ Especially considering that he had been _done_ with it, but had then changed his mind and gone back to work on it!

" _Hiiiiccuuup_ ," I moaned. " _Me_ bored _and_ tired _and want_ know! _Me no need surprise!_ _Me very good and need know!_ "

"The more you complain, the more tempted I am to work on it more," Hiccup said with a mischievous grin.

I sat up straighter, fixing him with a fearsome glare. "You wouldn't."

Hiccup snickered. "Have I told you that I really admire how patient you are?"

" _Always!_ " I said, lifting my nose up. Hiccup tried to throw a drawing-stick at me, but it hit the wall a few feet off to the side. " _Oh, very good! Need more practice?_ "

"Do you want me to finish this or not?"

" _Yes!_ " I groaned as loudly and dramatically as I could. I flopped to the ground, making sure the impact was loud, and curled my tail around front paws. Resting my chin on my tailtip, I pouted as pointedly as I could at Hiccup.

He watched this all with a raised brow, rolled his eyes, and spun around to work on his project.

"Besides…I think that I'm actually done."

I rocketed over so fast that several objects were knocked to the floor. The King let out a surprised grunt, and "Gobber" went into a rant about being careful that I ignored.

" _You done? You done?!_ " I shifted from side to side as Hiccup flung his paws over it to hide it. " _Me see! Me see! Me see!_ Hiccup!"

"Alright!" He said, waving a paw at me so he could get up. "But outside first."

I turned tail, charged through the smoke-cave, sat outside, realized Hiccup hadn't followed me, and ran back in.

"Hiccup, what's going on?" The King asked, eyes wide. He was inching closer and closer to his son, but stopped a measurable distance away.

"No runnin' in the forge!" "Gobber" snapped.

" _Walk fast! Walk fast!_ " I pressed, stepping behind Hiccup and giving him a little boost via headbutt.

Hiccup stopped on purpose, digging his paws into the ground and letting all of his weight fall back onto me.

I set him with a flat look, lifting an eyebrow and pursing my lips. Then I stooped and picked him up by his fake furs like he had a scruff.

All of his breath came out in a whoosh, " _Oof!"_

"Toothless!" The King said, alarmed now. "Set him down!"

"U-uh, don't worry, Dad, this is fine," Hiccup groaned. Under his breath, "I'm just suffocating, no big deal…"

I took us outside and set him down. Hiccup immediately spun around and pretended to claw at my nose, holding his project in his other paw.

" _Me walk!_ " He hissed playfully.

" _Fledgling_ ," I teased, lifting my own claws.

We swatted at each other for a few seconds, only to recompose ourselves when the King and "Gobber" joined us.

"So yer _finally_ done with these?" "Gobber" said. "Meanin' you can _finally_ work on our work orders?"

Hiccup's expression gave way to anxiety. "If all goes well," he said. Shrugging, he frowned and said, "I'm not sure how well this'll work."

Before I could scold him, he swiveled around and tottered away. His base-fin, which was attached to the whole length of his back, swayed with the movement.

" _Confused, where you go?_ " I asked, spinning around to follow.

" _Wait!_ " He squawked, stumbling in a circle back towards me.

"... _What?_ " I asked, stopping and tilting my head aside.

Hiccup dropped to the ground, sitting on top of my tail and blocking his project from my view again. His soft paws ran over my scales, and a few moments later I felt something sturdy and itchy being tied around in a few places. It had a solid weight to it, almost like…

Almost like…

My wings dropped and my heart throttled in my chest.

I knew what the surprise was.

Hiccup rose to his feet and turned to me with a meek smile. "Alright, so don't get your hopes up _too_ much, but—"

" _TAILTIP-FIN!_ " I cried in delight and shock, whipping my tail up to get a view of it.

It was made of the very same material as Hiccup's wings, but with metal in it as well. Flicking my tailtip-fin experimentally, I took _very_ quick notice that it didn't move with my real one, but still! Hiccup had _made_ me a tailtip-fin with his own two paws! That it wasn't completely functional was besides the point!

Spinning in a tight circle, I swung my tail to and fro to see how it moved with me. It was light and anatomically correct, and it was stuck in a flat, flared, slightly-raised position. I positioned my real tailtip-fin to match it and imagined how the air would move underneath me.

"I had to lock it," Hiccup explained nervously. "I made this first, and I wanted to show you this and my wings at the same time, but...that didn't work out. But after everything with the Bog Burglars, I realized that it would be limp and useless the way I had it. I ended up picking this position, since I thought it would be the most doable. You can glide, and you might be able to fly completely straight if there's no wind, but…" His shoulders drooped. "You can't turn or change altitude, so it's not _really_ flying...I'm sorry, Toothless."

" _Sorry?_ Sorry?!" I repeated. I swiveled towards him and pressed our foreheads together, purring so much that it vibrated my ears and side-frills. " _No, Hiccup...me love this. Thank you, thank you, thank you!_ "

His anxiety seemed to melt away, leaving him with a small, tired smile. Hiccup wrapped his paws around my head and purred. "It's the least I can do," he whispered. "For everything."

" _Oh, Hiccup_ ," I crooned. "You don't have to _repay_ me. _Love you._ "

His grip tightened. " _Love you._ "

We held still like that in the sunset of Berk, the sky lit with streaks of rose and amber and soft shadows shifting across the ground.

"So…" Hiccup said, pulling away. Peeking shyly at me through his fur, he murmured, "Do you want to try it?"

" _Yes! Us together_!" I said, nodding towards my back. " _Up!_ "

Uncertainty filled his eyes. "But I'll just...weigh you down."

" _Hiccup stupid_ ," I moaned with an eyeroll, using a wing to usher him towards me. " _You no fly, me no fly. Us fly together, or no fly._ "

Before, it had been different. Hiccup had been asking me to completely wipe away the consequences of our actions, while he struggled and clawed to reach the same level. But Hiccup had his wings now, and I this tailfin. That meant that for the first time in moons, we could fly _together_ , and all by Hiccup's own paws and hard work—not a magical fix that was wholly unfair, no matter how much Hiccup disagreed.

" _Up!_ " I repeated, bouncing in place like an overexcited fledgling.

It didn't take much else to convince him. "Okay," he purred, clambering on.

I shook my body, taking note of how the new weight made my tail slower and heavier on the left side. It was scarcely a problematic change, but noticeable nonetheless. Closing my eyes, I mapped how I would approach this. It would be best to leap off an elevated platform, just tall enough to make sure it worked but short enough that if it failed, we wouldn't plummet to our deaths. Then Hiccup could leap off of me and—

"Hiccup," the King spoke up, reminding us that we had spectators. I didn't even bother sending him a look; I wasn't going to let him ruin the moment. "Hold on a second—did you hear that?"

I blinked over at the human King. He looked both confused and concerned...and he was squinting up at the darkening sky.

"Hear what?" Hiccup asked.

The King's expression hardened, his eyes steeled and cold. Without breaking his sight from the sky, he growled, "Do you feel that, Gobber?"

"Aye," the human said in the same dark tone. "Just like old times, eh?"

The King snapped his attention to us. The weakening sunset gleamed in his eyes, filling them with fire. "Hiccup, Toothless, get back inside!"

"But—"

"Now!" The King ordered.

Hiccup flinched close to me at his harsh tone. I reared back myself, opening my wings and lifting my tail.

I opened my mouth to growl back at him that we could stay outside if we wanted to, that we had important matters to address, that all of Hiccup's work had _finally_ come to its end and that we weren't going to simply go back inside and wait around.

My words were swallowed by the deafening boom and roar of an explosion.


	9. Chapter 9

**Hello, everyone!**

 **Welp...here we go! This one's a biggie.**

 **But first, I'd like to thank ivanganve1992, Siganna, SAI1, markoatonc, Cyeithen, NomexGlove, Samateus-Taal, Emeraldpichu, TheFuriousNightFury, Crusader dragon, MisstyX0007, SyusOnix, Zeklyn, NightShadow9558, Lightwavers, Nacktgranate, Varghul, CrisDLZ, Nacktgranate, Crysist, and all anonymous reviewers for your thoughtful reviews! And as per the usual, I'd like to thank my beta Crysist for all of your hard work and dedication!**

 **Comments and criticism are always welcome, as always! I hope that you have a great day!**

* * *

 **Chapter 9**

Toothless

The fireball was as hot as the sun, searing through my scales even at the distance I stood from it. It loomed overhead, drifting deceptively slow as it shifted from brilliant oranges and yellows to thick, midnight-black smoke.

I opened my wings. Hiccup steadied himself on my shoulders, a low growl in his throat.

"Hiccup, _wait!_ " The King said, alarmed, but he was too late.

In a single bound, we were on top of a wood-cave. I sprinted along them, keeping parallel to the fireball as it sprouted like a mushroom further overhead. The center of impact was directly in the middle of the human nest, with many burnt and injured Vikings scrambling around.

The fireball had turned almost to smoke at its base, but the heat was still roiling, distorting the area with invisible waves and burning all who drew close. I opened my wings and tailfins, throwing us right into its center.

The updraft filled my wings, throwing us up into the sky. As one, Hiccup and I twisted our necks and locked our eyes on the artificial tailtip-fin.

Higher, higher, higher we went—dangerously so.

We did not fall.

" _YES!_ " Hiccup whooped, throwing his paws up victoriously. The heat grew more intense.

I flapped experimentally, keeping my body and tailfins straight. The wind became rough and turbulent beneath me, and I gave a sharp whine as I tipped almost completely to the side. Hiccup cut his celebrations short and threw his weight in the opposite direction. It was enough for me keep us stable, allowing us to lift high above Berk. The fireball began to trickle away beneath us.

"Wow," I breathed, taking in how small everything looked.

I had not thought that I would be able to see this again. That I would one day feel this freedom and this joy once more.

"… _Wow_ ," I said again. Euphoria filled my body, leaving me speechless and lighthearted. It was all I could do to choke out, " _T-thank you, Hiccup! Thank you!_ "

A dark blur whipped below, drawing a surprised yelp out of both of us—and reminding us that now was not exactly the best time for this. Flapping a few more times, I made sure we were level before whipping my head around in search of intruders. From this high up, we could see almost all of Berk.

That included all of the foreign dragons flying low over it.

Several more booms resounded as wood-caves were set aflame, sending the humans inside fleeing outdoors. The intruders flitted about them, not even bothering to fly above into the safety of the smoke. It took me a moment to realize: the intruders were staying low _because_ they were diving upon the humans, snatching them up in their talons.

The sight filled me with sudden, unexpected rage. These humans were dangerous and idiotic, but damn it, they were _our_ humans!

I wasted no more time.

" _OUR NESTMATES!_ " I bellowed. " _TO US!_ "

Every dragon snapped their head up at my call. A distant response came from the forest.

Seconds later, the treeline erupted with the silhouettes of scores of dragons. Our nest was twice the size of this group of intruders—the sight alone should have been enough to scare them off.

"We overpower you!" I cried to the stalling intruders below. "Leave now, or face your death!"

There was a pause.

The intruders redoubled their efforts, lunging at the humans with vigor.

" _Toothless!_ " Hiccup hissed.

Gas flung through my throat. I took a moment to aim at a larger pocket of foreigners.

The purple light of my shot flared in contrast with the amber-orange of the flames below. It exploded with a great boom, knocking all who flew near it head-over-tail.

Despite the risks, I tried to pick up speed by flapping my wings. As expected, the air became unsteady and turbulent beneath us. To accelerate, my tailtip-fins needed to be flat and drawn-in. However, in order to stay stable while flying _straight_ , they needed to be in the position that Hiccup had set for me, which now created drag. The air sliding underneath my body was bouncing off of them and bumping us around. I flapped harder to try to cancel out the rough winds, but my body was already rocking wildly side to side.

A gasp escaped me as an unexpected current came from below, knocking me almost completely over. Hiccup leaned hard in the opposite direction, and it was just _barely_ enough for me to level out.

Our nestmates made it to Berk precious seconds too late. The air below us filled with fire and fangs as dragons locked in combat.

"We need to lure them up here!" Hiccup gasped. "Unless we want the entire village to burn down!"

That was glaringly obvious—in their attempts to steal our humans, the intruders had foolishly pinned themselves close to the ground. The result was that any and all fire hit human structures, all of which were flammable.

"Drive them higher!" I commanded to our nestmates below. "Get them away from the nest!"

At the very same moment, Hiccup yelped, "Look out!"

My first instinct was to look _down_ , expecting to see someone lunging at my exposed stomach.

It wasn't until I felt the sickening, gut-lurching emptiness on my back that I realized my mistake.

Talons swooped just past my ear. An opalescent, colorful dragon went whirling past with an annoyed snort.

Hiccup had leapt away just in time—and directly towards the calamity below. With a panicked gasp, I threw my head down and scanned the air as rapidly as I could.

 _Where is he? Where is he?!_

There was a burst of activity several winglengths below. Hiccup flared his wings, nearly tipped over, and rose unsteadily on an updraft provided by a stray fireblast.

"Woah!" He cried, tilting his wings wildly to keep from flipping over. I nearly turned my wings into a blur, forcing myself through the air like I was slogging through mud. The intruding dragons were everywhere, and he was just as vulnerable as I was!

He began to laugh.

" _See?_ " He cried, throwing a paw down to go into a wide, barely-controlled turn back towards me. "I'm me!"

" _Hiccup!_ " I scolded, growing even more annoyed when he shot me a ridiculousgrin. Movement flickered below him, and adrenaline rushed through me. Now in fear, I shouted, " _Hiccup!_ "

Hiccup tucked his wings in and dropped like a stone, leaving the intruder behind him exposed. I spat a fireball right at them, sending them spiraling away.

Even farther below now—and moving much faster—Hiccup opened his wings. This time, he couldn't catch an updraft. He shot right over Berk.

And straight into the center of the battle.

"Uh, _Toothless!_ "

" _Hiccup!_ " I screamed. Swinging my tail up, I tucked my wings in and forced myself into an angled dive. The wind whipped around me, roaring in my ears so much that it drowned out everything else. All I focused on was Hiccup as he twisted in a wild, desperate attempt to avoid colliding into dragons or fire.

An intruder charging through the air, spun around, and snapped their tail at him. It impacted with a sharp _CRACK_ , flinging him towards me.

"NO!" I snarled. I snapped my wings open and threw my tail down to level out. But I over-corrected, and began to flip over backwards! The world became a blur. Dragons screeched—fire blazed in all directions—I couldn't level out—I was going to tip over completely!

Just ahead of me, Hiccup pulled his wings open as far as he could. He didn't stall like he clearly intended to, but it was enough—he lagged midair just as I barreled into him. I clutched him to my chest, wrapped my wings around him, and let us fall.

It was a relatively short distance to the earth, but the impact was still unforgiving. Sharp metal and stones littered the ground, digging into my scales and rubbing them raw. I grit my teeth and bore the pain, grateful that it was _me_ instead of Hiccup.

On the ground, I could make out human cries amidst the roars of dragons, the King's voice loud and petrified among them. Our nestmates raged above, while the intruders responded almost pleadingly. Yet with each passing second, more and more distance was placed between the intruders and our nestmates.

" _Hiccup okay?!_ " I gasped, wrenching my wings open.

He moaned, holding his midsection. "Just…bruised," he wheezed, rolling off of me and crouching on four paws. His wings splayed at his sides, so real-looking that he almost appeared to be the fledgling he sounded like.

Baring my teeth, I got to my feet and stood beside him. Throwing my head up, I threw my wings open over Hiccup and roared with all the air in my lungs, "Leave our territory at once! As Saviors, we _command_ it!"

This well and truly gave them pause. The fact that these dragons had continued their attack after witnessing how outnumbered they were spoke volumes of their intellect. Yet even _they_ seemed to know something about us.

It was enough.

Our nestmates redoubled their efforts, driving them higher and further away. The heat was so intense that I could feel it from the ground, and blood rained from the sky as many of the ignorant dragons took heavy wounds.

" _RETREAT!_ "

The call came from a dragon hovering above his nestmates, watching the battle from above. He was the very same colorful dragon that had taken a swipe at Hiccup just a few moments ago.

Something about him was…

I glanced at Hiccup and furrowed my brows upon seeing his equally-confused expression.

" _Me know him,_ " Hiccup mumbled, his eyes never leaving the sky. "… _why here?_ "

We had no further time to discuss.

The intruders finally swiveled around and sped away to the northwest. Our nestmates gave chase, snipping at their tails so that the message was loud and clear: you are not wanted here.

Just as suddenly as the intruders had come, they were gone, taking with them the answers that we so desperately sought.

 **o.O.o**

Hiccup

I knew that voice. I knew that accent.

The memory froze me on the spot, a wave of helplessness overcoming me. The pain in my stomach transformed into an altogether different wound, transporting me through the past.

"Why did they come back?" I whispered. I remained crouching, arching my spine and lowering my head.

" _Me protect you_ ," Toothless hissed with vehemence, extending a wing over me. " _Me promise._ "

It was then that, far too late, I realized that we should have sent some scouts after the intruders. Now our nestmates had returned, triumphant. They landed on buildings and made themselves as big as possible, roaring victoriously and blasting fire at the air to show their strength.

They had come in the night again, but with a bigger group this time. They wanted something.

But what, and _why?_ Were they going to come back again, or had we scared them off for good? Were they really dumb enough to try and attack a nest that outnumbered them _twice?_

My head spun. I hated this, feeling so _vulnerable_ , sitting around and waiting for the next awful thing in the never-ending line of awful things to happen. I growled uncertainly, and Toothless echoed me.

Lost in perplexion and anxiety, I was too distracted to notice anyone approach. Toothless wasn't.

His alarmed yelp drew me out of my stupor. Before I knew it, Toothless had spun around, removing his wing and leaving me exposed.

Dad met my eyes and stared, confused and distraught and even a little sad. The firelight from the still-smoldering village cast long shadows across his face, giving him an almost ghastly appearance.

 _Why does he look so upset?_ I thought, which was quickly followed by, _Is he mad at me? What did I do?_

The battle had left me jittery and shaking, and still adrenaline rushed through me all over again, ripping all of my thoughts up in a whirlwind. My heart pounded loud in my ears and my chest ached. Just at the edges of my mind, a phantom shadow stalked, the memories it carried threatening to flood over.

He was looming over me, just like—just like—

Dad backpedaled, holding his hands up. Confusion swept through me again, until—

I cut my growl off with a jolt, forcing myself to stop baring my blunt, useless teeth at him. Gasping for breath, I closed my eyes, resting my head in a hand.

 _It's not real_ , I told myself. _It's not real. I'm okay._

" _Me here_ ," Toothless crooned, nosing my side.

I took one more deep breath to steel myself. Then I opened my eyes, put my hand down, and rose to two feet instead of four—the _human_ way. Toothless brought his wing up around me again.

Dad was now a pretty far distance away, eyes glinting in the darkness. My eyes were lame in the low light, and all I could make out was that he was still holding his hands up like he thought I was going to lunge at him. Again.

My shoulders drooped, and I hung my head in shame.

"Hiccup?" Dad asked, his voice cracking. "I-I'm sorry, I—"

I shook my head, grimacing with anger at myself. Why hadn't I said anything? Stupid!

"N-no, Dad, it—it wasn't you." I forced myself to meet his turbulent eyes and whispered, "I'm so sorry."

It was so hard to meet Dad's pained, guilty expression. "Can I come closer?" He asked.

I nodded, and took several shaking steps forward myself. The fear in Dad's eyes faded, and with a gentle smile, he closed the gap between us.

In that same small voice, he said, "Are you hurt?"

I shrugged and shook my head. "Just...winded. And worried."

There was a beat where nobody said anything. I fiddled with my wings, tucking them almost guiltily back into my suit.

Then, with a stab of shame, I tacked on, "Are…are _you_ okay?"

Dad nodded, but his expression was grim. "There's been a lot of structural damage, and many villagers are wounded from being picked up. Luckily, nobody was carried off."

That was a relief. "I guess…it could be worse?" I tried.

Dad hummed in agreement. In a sudden change of subject, he blurted, "Hiccup, is that…is that _safe?_ "

He gestured at all of me. I tipped my head to the side, confused.

Toothless groaned in exasperation, and I realized what he was talking about.

"My wings?" I asked, glancing down at myself. "Yeah, I—I just need practice, is all."

Dad did _not_ like the sound of that. In seconds, he took on his stern, commanding, about-to-ground-me tone that I had grown to love as a kid. "You were almost killed, Hiccup. When you fell off of Toothless, you had no control. I thought—I thought I was about to watch you—"

He didn't finish, closing his eyes and putting his head in his hand.

I looked at my feet, holding my arms to my chest.

"I'm…sorry," I stammered, sharing a guilty look with Toothless. "I'll be more careful, I promise."

Dad looked like he had a lot more that he wanted to say. He paused, and then shook his head. "Hiccup…"

"Chief!"

It was Gorge. He rushed over and came to a stop beside us. His hair and clothing were singed and he was covered in bruises, but he seemed more excited than anything.

"That was quite a fancy fall, Hiccup," he said to me. To Dad, he reported, "We've just got most of the fires out, but there's at least a half dozen houses that need rebuilding."

Dad straightened up, going right back to business. "I saw. We'll have to relocate all of the families affected to Town Hall for now. Make sure they get provisions and some bedding."

"Aye," Gorge said. "And what about the dragons?"

Dad glanced up at our nestmates around us, the large majority of them still sitting like giant statues on the buildings and craning their necks towards the stars. To me, it was a comforting sight—but to the rest of the villagers…

"The dragons protected us," he said. "Leave them be."

"Right-o, Chief," Gorge said with an easy grin. "I must say, I'm curious to know if Dogsbreath's little Terror was of any use."

"We'll find out soon enough," Dad sighed. "Let's go see how much damage was done."

 **o.O.o**

I took one step into Town Hall and froze on the spot.

The numbers of wounded were much more than Dad and Gorge had let on. Half of the entire building was strewn with the injured and homeless.

Berk was hardy; a small dragon raid shouldn't have been any concern. This had made me think that the effects of the raid had been minor. This was serious—this was real, and this was _bad._

People with burns charring their skin, painting them red and black and leaving them writhing on the ground in agony. People with bite and claw wounds, suffering from poison and shredded flesh and blood seeping through bandages. Children, men, women—there was no distinguishing between. I could almost smell the infection in the air, the sharp, bitter tang of blood. The scent of fire and smoke was just as overpowering, hanging like a smog and stinging the back of my throat with its thick, choking claws.

My mind flung to a time when I had done this.

When I had _wanted_ this.

Nausea leapt upon me. I covered my mouth and nose with one hand and leaned on Toothless with the other, taking in thin breaths through clenched teeth. Toothless brought his wing up around me, shielding me from the outside world.

" _It is fine_ ," Toothless murmured. " _Me here. No Queen._ "

My heart ached, my lungs burned. I closed my eyes and focused only on my breathing, trying to force it back down to a normal pace.

" _It—is—fine_ ," I gasped, throwing all of my attention on each word just to stay in the present.

By the time I'd stopped making yet _another_ one of my embarrassing and selfish scenes, the entire room had noticed us standing there and had fallen silent. I, on the other hand, felt more exhausted than I had in days. I slumped against Toothless.

He nosed me to hop on his back, and I did so without complaint.

Dad stepped up, blocking us from view. Gothi and Gobber had already appeared from the masses and walked over. They had a quick, hushed conversation. After a couple of seconds, Dad turned and gestured us over.

With an uncertain growl, Toothless crept into Town Hall.

Dad got right down to business. "Will the dragons stay in the village?" he asked.

Toothless and I hadn't discussed that yet, too shocked by everything to even _think_ about that.

" _No want_ ," Toothless said. Then, sighing in defeat, he amended, " _Worried…enemy nest attack again? Need nestmate here._ "

"If those dragons come back, we'll need our nestmates here," I translated. "But…are they safe here?"

Dad, Gobber, and Gothi looked at each other uncertainly. We all knew the answer to that question.

"Do ya know if they'll come back?" Gobber asked. "What was all that about anyway?"

I shrugged with wide eyes, and the helpless gesture just made me feel all the more vulnerable. Because we _didn't_ know. All we _did_ know was that we had recognized the leader of the apparent raid, and that they really wanted to grab people for some reason. They seemed to want something, and I had a sinking feeling that it had to do with us…that it was, somehow, our fault.

Worse still, the only other thing we knew was that these other dragons would risk a fight against a nest that far outpowered them. Which, in hindsight, was pretty terrifying. How much more reckless could they get? Why would they go to such lengths? What had made them reach such a desperate plan?

What was the alternative, and why was it worse enough for them to do _this?_

Dad took my silence in and turned to the hushed Town Hall, which was only punctuated by the moans and sobs of the wounded.

"Our dragons will stay in the village to keep watch over it," he announced. His voice echoed in the stillness. "We don't know if those other dragons will come back, but they will be ready to defend our home just like the rest of us. Now all of you get some rest—it's late, and we'll be needing to be in our top shape."

Not a single voice rose in defiance or confusion. It was clear that everyone here was just as shocked and exhausted as I was, and just wanted to go to sleep and pretend like this night had never happened.

It was almost sad. As far as raids went, this one had been fairly tame. The entire village wasn't in need of rebuilding, and relatively few people were injured in comparison to…to the Queen's raids.

But it was the first raid Berk had experienced in over a year. It had been sudden, unprovoked, and malevolent. There had been an _intention_ behind it, not just hunting or overtaking of territory. The norm had been burned away just as the buildings and warriors had been, and now the uncertainty of the situation was real instead of hypothetical. We were no longer justhearing stories now.

The word "war" drifted across Town Hall like a phantom, consuming all it touched.

The raiding dragons of the north had found us.

 **o.O.o**

" _Hiccup certain?_ "

" _Yes_ ," I said, giving myself a good shake to loosen my muscles. " _Us need practice._ "

" _Need sleep_ ," Toothless argued. " _Our nestmate need good King. No us good King when no sleep. Us_ bad _when no sleep._ "

" _No,_ " I said stubbornly, even though he was right. " _Us need practice! Our nestmate need this!_ "

" _Hiccup stupid! You tired_ and _me tired! Us need sleep!_ "

I began another retort, but dissolved into a coughing fit instead. The village was dark and quiet—but smoke and ash still hung in the air as a firm reminder that this supposedly-peaceful night had been alight with fire just an hour ago.

I couldn't stand by and let the numbers in Town Hall grow. It was _our_ fault those dragons had come here, I just knew it. So it was our responsibility to stop them if they came back.

Toothless and I needed to be able to fly. As I had learned a lifetime ago, the best way to learn was through trial and error.

We were actually perched on the bell tower of Town Hall, one of the tallest places in Berk. Dad had sent us off to "bed" a while ago, but had no clue that we'd backtracked here again. I only hoped that he wouldn't be too suspicious or upset when he realized that we weren't at home.

"Come on, Toothless," I finally said. "Are you telling me you _don't_ want to test your tailfin out?"

I slid off my very disgruntled brother and purred, butting my head against his. He huffed and made a big show of "grudgingly" returning the gesture.

" _Okay_ ," he groaned. He got to his feet and looked back at his tailfin. " _Now?_ "

" _Yes! You go!_ " I chirped. "Also, I'll probably need you to catch me…"

" _Oh, yes? What surprise!_ " He set me with a flat look. " _Me know._ "

With a final roll of his shoulders, he wiggled his rump, crouched down, and launched from the bell tower. He made his wings and tail flat, heading in a straight line towards another relatively-tall building hunkering down halfway across the village.

For a moment, he looked like he was _really_ flying. Sure, he was going at gliding speed, but he wasn't falling when normally he would have been. A huge smile grew across my face, and I bounced up and down with excitement. It was working—it was _working!_

Toothless began to flap his wings to speed up. I went rigid.

He began to rattle midair as his wings created unsteady drafts beneath him. He stopped for a second and waited. Then, instead of doing whole, complete downstrokes, he only did short little half-flaps.

I couldn't tell how much it worked—Toothless had maybe a few seconds of practice before he suddenly threw his tail down and flared his wings. For a heart-stopping moment, his body rocked from side to side so much that I thought he would miss his mark. Thank the Dragoness of the Moon, he regained just enough control to _not_ crash through the building he was trying to land on.

He was so far away from me that I couldn't even see his expression—but judging by the way he was running back and forth and leaping into the air, he was just as euphoric as I was. The panic faded as quick as it came. I crouched down on all fours and gave myself one more good shake.

The village seemed to stretch out before my eyes, becoming so much longer and desolate.

"I can do this," I whispered to myself. My mind flashed back to that horrible night—falling into darkness, into death—and I shoved it aside with a snort.

I wasn't going to be useless anymore. I didn't have a choice.

I threw myself off of the bell tower and snapped my arms out. The air filled my wings like sails catching the wind.

For once, I didn't feel so empty anymore.

I lifted up for a short moment before beginning my slow descent, the houses and shops below zooming by at a mildly-alarming pace. Peeking over my shoulder, I saw that my base-fin was doing its job and doing it _well_ , keeping the air around me stable enough to glide.

The lightness I had felt earlier this night filled my heart, bringing with it a bright and vibrant joy that had become rare and precious in these past weeks. Even though it was the dead of night, I couldn't contain my excitement. " _Look!_ " I cried to any dragon that was actually awake enough to listen. Risking a glance down, I met the eyes of some very sleepy and confused nestmates, every one of them staring slackjawed up at me.

This only made me laugh more. I tilted from side to side experimentally, swaying back and forth and slowly picking up more speed the more I angled myself downwards.

The building I was aiming for suddenly leapt into view. Right. I'd forgotten about that.

Back in the battle, I had tried to slow myself down by flaring my wings. It hadn't worked, though, and I'd been smacked pretty hard a few seconds later. Now I narrowed my eyes with determination.

My wings would be useless if I couldn't slow down before landing. They would practically be a death sentence every time I used them.

I wrenched my arms backwards as far as they would go. At the same time, I threw my legs down and out as wide as I could get them. I had been flat in the air before to get as aerodynamic as possible. Now I was doing the complete opposite, splaying out to cause as much drag as I possibly could.

The result was that the air rammed into me with such a force that I became dizzy. My breath was knocked from my lungs like I'd been punched in the gut. I had expected this—but I had been so used to it as a dragon that I'd never thought it would be a big deal.

I was _super_ wrong.

I bared my teeth in a grimace as the air tore at me, my wings stretched out as thin as they would go and my arms and legs burning. I couldn'tbreathe, the air was forced from me so quickly.

Toothless skidded down the roof to my level and reared up, holding his paws out to me. I slammed right into his chest and he toppled backwards.

We both plopped onto the roof.

"Okay," I wheezed, letting myself go limp. "Gotta…work on…slowing down."

" _Me too_ ," Toothless whined, splaying his wings out. " _Me think easy, but very hard!_ "

Both of let out long groans that melted into fits of laughter.

" _Us fly!_ " Toothless said in breathless wonder. " _Us_ fly!"

Sudden, giddy energy filled my limbs. "Well, come on!" I leapt to my paws with a huge smile. "Let's keep trying!" Toothless didn't get up right away, so I shot him a sly look and added, " _Me first now_."

"Ah, _no!_ " Toothless yelped, getting to his feet in record time. " _Me go now! Goodbye!_ "

And just like that, he'd picked some random direction and flown away. Once again, he flapped very shallowly—and this time, it did not disrupt the air enough to knock him off-course. He noticeably sped up and managed to keep himself level. Eventually, an oncoming building forced him to land on the ground. Had it not been there, though, he could have kept going and going so long as he stayed stable midair and maintained his lift.

I followed without hesitation, trying to sway back and forth in the air as I did so. I couldn't speed up, but the simpler shape of my wings and body meant that I could shift direction a lot easier than Toothless could. The only downside to it was that I always needed to tuck a wing down to shift direction, meaning that I lost height and gained speed.

Luckily, Toothless was there to catch me so that I didn't become a splat on the ground. He lifted himself up on his hind paws, bracing to catch me.

Our eyes met, the both of us filled with excitement and joy.

 _Something_ flickered.

" _Wah!_ " I yelped, immediately becoming unstable and wobbling. Toothless was swaying, and I crashed right into him.

We both sat there, completely still and stunned.

" _H-Hiccup?_ " Toothless asked in a small voice.

Faster than ever, I closed my eyes and tore through my mind, searching every last inch of it for _whatever_ that was.

The empty shell of magic was still there—and just as desolate as it had always been. Nothing had changed at all.

I relayed this to Toothless, and the two of us sat there, dumbfounded.

" _This…good?_ " Toothless asked. " _No certain…me very interested and confused. Practice more, see again?_ "

The moon rolled across the sky as we repeated our system: climb up a tall building, jump off, try not to die when you land. Toothless experimented with speeding up, but he struggled with anything past gradual acceleration. I, on the other hand, focused on making sure I could actually _move_ in the air. I could only take flying directly into a group of angry, raiding dragons once in my lifetime, after all. I'd rather just be able to swerve away than get stuck right in the middle of it and pray my wings didn't catch on fire.

With each landing, we tried to repeat what had happened. Yet whatever that flicker had been, it did not return. Surprisingly, this didn't crush me with disappointment as much as I thought it would. Instead, it made me…hopeful.

It wasn't our link. We knew that, because I had no magic. But it was _something_ , and for a fleeting moment, it was real. Maybe…maybe we could get it to come back if we tried hard enough.

As we practiced, we became quite the spectacle to our nestmates. Everywhere we went, encouragements came from all around us. The joy of flying coupled with this strange, new _thing_ left me as light as my wings made me. Time became inconsequential, and the short minutes we spent flying felt like an eternity, like it could never stop.

I hadn't had this much fun in weeks. Just like with speaking with Toothless, I found it easy to keep my mind off of everything pinning me down. I mean, we were _flying!_ Sure, it was mostly fancy glides, but it was better than nothing.

It was like I had rediscovered a part of me that I had lost and searched the ends of the earth for. When I opened my wings and flew, I wasn't some crippled, useless dragon.

I was whole.

I was _me._

The joy it brought revitalized me, whisking away the exhaustion that had been plaguing me for weeks. Every moment I landed, I couldn't wait to take off again, to feel the sky carry me along as easily as it once had when I'd been a _real_ Shadow-Blender.

I was impatiently watching Toothless fly off of the bell tower again when a sharp chirp came from my right.

"Ah!" I yelped, spinning and nearly falling off the building. "Oh! _Hello, Stormfly!_ "

Stormfly beamed and bowed. She bounced in place and flapped her wings, squawking excitedly. She sounded just as amazed as the rest of our nestmates, and I heard several questions and a select few words. It might have been just her, but it seemed easier for me to distinguish her undertones from her words.

Still, she talked _way_ too fast.

What I got first was some complaints about sleeping and Hookfang—she seemed annoyed she was the only one awake, and I gathered _something_ about Astrid, although I didn't know what. Then came a barrage of questions, including how we were flying again…and also, if she could join.

I purred, leaning forward and nosing her. " _U-s…g-o_ ," I said as slowly and clearly as I could.

Stormfly tilted her head completely to the side and asked, " _Huh?_ "

With a bright smile, I pawed at her in a "follow me" motion and took to the air.

Stormfly squeaked in surprise and a little bit of fear, giving frantic chase. She leveled out with me and gaped, eyes huge and astonished.

" _Wow!_ " I heard her say. I dipped a wing and swerved right under her. Just beneath her, I flipped over on my back, poked her in the stomach with my cold, prosthetic foot, and flipped over again. With a quick angle of my wings, I came out on the other side of her, snickering at her flabbergasted expression.

With narrowed eyes, she sent me a playful hiss and began flying in tight circles above and below me. I couldn't really compete with that, so instead I ducked and curved, trying to throw her off-course. I was too slow to pose a challenge, but the two of us were still having a great time.

The only problem was…all of that fancy turning had made me lose a lot more height than I originally planned. I blinked in surprise when I finally focused on what was in front of me and did a quick mental calculation. With a start, I realized that the roof was going to be just _above_ me by the time I reached it.

Meaning that I was going to crash.

"Uh… _Stormfly?_ " I asked, the slightest bit of tension escaping into my voice. " _Help, please?_ "

Not a moment later, Toothless shouted something at her.

She flapped cheerily next to me, her tongue lolling from her mouth and head tipped to the side. She ignored Toothless and asked me a few confused questions—she didn't see the problem. She didn't know I couldn't change altitude.

" _U-p!_ " I said in the clearest, most drawn-out command I could.

Stormfly squinted at me. I could almost see the gears turning in her head.

Her eyes lit up with understanding.

" _Okay!_ " Stormfly squawked, and then zipped away.

Oh, Dragoness of the Moon.

Toothless roared at her again in exasperation and fear; it was something about flying up. I began to try to turn away from the building I was aiming for, throwing a wing down as far as I could. Hopefully there wasn't another building right behind it, because that was where I was going.

Stormfly called from somewhere behind me. I leveled out, glancing over my shoulder—

 _Fire._

"AGH!" I yelped as the blast went directly underneath me. "What are you—oh, thanks!"

The fire had created a powerful updraft, filling my wings anew and shooting me upwards. It was a little too close for comfort, but it got the job done. I had lifted enough that I wouldn't crash.

I had just a second to pull up and slow down at a dizzying speed, and Toothless snatched me out of the air and back to safety.

He wheezed a thankful prayer to the gods and then asked, " _You okay?!_ "

I was still winded, but I laughed with delight anyways. "Honestly, I wouldn't mind doing that again!"

" _Stupid!_ " Toothless growled. He turned to an excited Stormfly and lightly scolded her. She drooped, eyes wide and hurt, and keened an apology to me.

" _It-is-fine_ ," I purred, waving a dismissive paw. " _Fun!_ "

Toothless rolled his eyes, but Stormfly perked right back up. Then he whipped right towards me.

" _Um_ —" I began.

" _Fly_ careful _, Hiccup_ ," Toothless said, turning the stern lecture on me. " _Me scared and worried! You need fly careful and see_ here _,_ " He pointed in front of himself the human way, " _and no_ this!" He gestured wildly all around him at everywhere else. " _This very stupid! Hiccup_ smart!"

Essentially, he was telling me, "Watch where you're going, you fishbone—you're smarter than that!"

" _Sorry_ ," I said earnestly, crouching on my belly and lowering my head and eyes submissively. The high I was riding faded, and in a more subdued voice, I mumbled, "I'm just so _happy_ being able to fly, I guess I kinda…" I shrugged. "I forgot that it can be really dangerous."

" _Me too. No worry, Hiccup—me very, very happy_ ," Toothless purred, using his claw to tip my chin up so I met his eyes. " _Hiccup need careful, okay? Promise?_ "

" _Me promise,_ " I said. "I'm really sorry, Toothless. I didn't mean to scare you so much."

" _P-r-o-m-i-s-_ e," He sounded out with another roll of his eyes. Before I could parrot it back at him, he cuffed me over the head. " _And good!_ "

"Ow!" I complained, swiping at him and missing. "Well, fine then! I'll show you just how careful I can be! Let's go again!"

 **o.O.o**

The moon was beginning to set when _we_ had to be the ones to send Stormfly off to bed. She, along with a few other nestmates, had taken to flying around with us, providing the occasional thermal for me so I wouldn't smash into an obstacle and meet an unfortunate end. Still, the majority of our nestmates had spent quite a lot of energy in the battle, and had none to spare to play around with Toothless and me.

The minority, however…

I stepped forward on all four legs and opened my wings to look bigger. " _You sleep!_ " I squawked at the fledgling Flame-Skin. Looking to his playmates, I added, " _And you! And you!_ "

They tipped their heads and peeped in confusion, eyes huge and wings fluttering.

Halfway across Berk, Toothless roared something along the lines of, " _Go to sleep, you little runts!_ "

" _No!_ " All of them whined.

I lifted a paw and pointed the human way at another building, where several nestmates were knocked out cold. " _G-o_ ," I said. In a kinder, yet commanding tone, I added, " _Okay?_ "

The little jerks pretended not to see where I was pointing. The Flame-Skin shouted a challenge and rocketed from the ledge we were on, flying towards Toothless. The other two shrieked in indignation and followed in pursuit.

Toothless gave them an annoyed, unimpressed look that was usually reserved for me. With a chuckle, I took off after them, opening my wings and shifting along the various air currents without second thought.

The fledglings felt it first.

All of them gave shocked, frightened screeches as their wings suddenly filled with air, knocking their wings back completely. They were too young and inexperienced, and I watched with horror as they all lost control and began to fall.

"Hang on!" I cried, tucking my wings into a dive—

A gale crashed through me with the force of a hurricane. I wheezed as all the air flew from my lungs and spots filled my vision. Berk became a whirlwind of darkness and light, and "up" and "down" blended together so thoroughly that I had no clue where I was going.

I flared my wings and fought to gain control, throwing them up and down with the wild winds. After a solid second of struggling, I righted myself—upside-down.

A sharp screech came from just ahead. I flipped around and yelped when a fledgling tumbled right into me.

There was a moment where I got my bearings straight enough to predict what was going to happen.

I wrapped my wings around the fletchling and braced.

We crashed into the ground—my vision went black—

I came to a second later, rolling across the street and pain slicing through my right shoulder where we'd impacted. We hadn't even slid to a stop before I was surrounded by a good five or six nestmates, all of them demanding what happened and if we were okay.

Groaning, I opened my wings and let the fledgling stumble to the ground. She was a little Two-Walker, and judging from the way one of her wings was drooping, she'd been injured. An adult Two-Head leaned down, picked her up by the scruff, and carried her off. Two other dragons joined him, each carrying a fledgling.

" _S-sorry_ ," I managed to get out, rolling slowly to my stomach. Everyone leaned down and nosed me up, and I gave them all a grateful purr.

" _Hiccup!_ " Toothless cried from afar. Our nestmates perked up and stepped aside to make room for him.

He was flying as fast as he could, wings working dangerously fast. He let himself drop above us, just before he crashed himself.

" _Me okay!_ " I rushed as he scrambled over to me. I put my right paw down and flinched, cradling it against my chest.

Toothless narrowed his eyes. " _No okay! What that?!_ "

" _Do not know_ ," I said, shrugging and then grimacing at the pain. For clarity, I went on in Norse, "I don't know—it felt like really strong wind, but it came out of nowhere." Looking up, I squinted and added, "And look, there aren't any clouds. It's not like a storm's coming."

An adult Two-Walker chirped at Toothless, but I didn't pick up any vocabulary. She sniffed at the air and bared her teeth in a growl. Toothless did the same, scenting the air and eyes flicking up at the sky.

" _What?_ " I asked.

" _Two-Walker think enemy dragon_ ," Toothless growled, " _but me no see or smell._ "

" _Me too._ It was wind, nothing physical." I clarified. "I wasn't _pushed_ off-course."

Sudden wind currents were common, but we were in a flatter part of Berk, meaning that it couldn't have come from the ocean cliffs or mountains. Still, any dragon could cause that amount of turbulence if they were flying fast enough. But they would have needed to be close—close enough that everyone, including me, would have seen them.

We didn't have time to mull it over.

Toothless had just stepped over to help me to my feet when a familiar, terrified voice called out to me. Our nestmates whipped in the direction it came from and formed a circle around us, wings half-open and heads lowered.

" _It-is-fine_ ," I told them, and Toothless grunted the same phrase in normal dragon.

With reluctant bows, our nestmates crept away and let my father pass.

"Hiccup!" He breathed, beginning to rush towards me and stopping himself. "Can I—?"

I had only nodded for a second before he fell down in front of me, his hands held just inches away from me and eyes huge. I leaned into Toothless.

Dad sat back on his heels and gasped, "Are you alright? I've been looking for you, I saw all the fire, I saw you fall—" He cut himself short. "What's wrong with your arm?"

He'd keyed in on the limp way I was nursing my right arm. I grimaced, shifting around. I was still crouched on all paws, and I turned my body so that my left side was facing him. It was awkward with my prosthetic leg, but I managed. "Um…"

"You're hurt." This came out saddened and unsurprised, like he'd been waiting for this to happen. "Is it bad?"

"N-no," I said, doing everything I could to look casual and totally-not-injured. "It was just a freak accident. I'm okay, really."

Both Dad and Toothless shot me unconvinced looks. Even a few nestmates raised their brows at me, having understood either my words or intent. I lowered my head, trying not to feel too ganged-up on.

Dad sat back and slumped. He stared, conflicted, and then sighed. "Hiccup…"

"I'm okay—"

"You are _not_ okay!"

I flinched like he'd lunged forward to strike at me. My heart picked up twofold, and every muscle in my body tensed. Toothless and our nestmates growled.

Dad didn't back down, scowling with fear and anger. "I am _not_ going to stand by anymore and let you get yourself killed, Hiccup!" he asserted. "I know it's hard for you. I know that I can't even begin to understand what you're going through. But _this!_ " He gestured at all of me. "This is pure recklessness! This is _asking_ to be hurt!"

I stared, wide-eyed. I tried to respond, but my words died on my lips.

I hadn't seen him _this_ angry with me in weeks, and it awakened that fear that I loathed with every inch of my being, that had wrestled control of my life from me and reduced me to nothing countless times. I clutched at my chest, fighting for breath.

Dad stopped abruptly. He looked through me like he was searching for something, and with a deep breath, he put his head in his hand and closed his eyes.

"I'm putting an end to this."

I dropped my hand. Toothless lowered his head close to me. "W-what?"

Dad met my eyes, and his worried anger gave way to something sad and resolute. "I'm sorry, Hiccup…I am truly, truly sorry. But I want you to know that I'm not doing this to punish you. I just want you to be _safe._ "

He sat up straighter and took a deep breath, stalling just a second longer.

"I forbid you from using those wings any longer."

A beat passed.

" _What?!_ " Toothless and I yelped. Toothless' shock exploded into fury, and he snarled several insults and "you can't tell us what to do"s at my father in rapid succession.

I stared into my father's pleading, guilty eyes, holding my good paw to my heart with a shudder. To abandon flying…it felt _wrong_. It wasn't _me._ It wasn't that I wouldn't, it was that I _couldn't._

I began to shake my head.

"N…no," I whispered. I opened my mouth to elaborate, but I couldn't come up with anything else to say.

" _Every_ time you use those wings, you get hurt," Dad said, his expression distraught and his voice quivering. "Toothless won't be able to catch you every time, just like what happened just now!"

Toothless let out an outraged hiss, " _Never again! Me here!_ _Me_ always _here! Stupid human! Stupid, stupid,_ stupid!"

"It was an _accident_ ," I pleaded. I felt lightheaded, but not in the good way anymore. "It wasn't me, it was just a freak gust of wind. It won't happen again, I'll—I'll be more careful—"

"You've told me that three times now! What will happen the next time there's an accident?!" Dad demanded in that same pained voice. "I'm sorry, Hiccup. But it has to be done, for your _own_ sake. Please, try to understand."

Exhaustion blasted through me, _again_. It all laid heavy on my shoulders, _again_. The raiding dragons and the singing dragons. The Bog Burglars and the other tribes. The people of Berk. My father.

I bared my teeth and wrinkled my nose.

"I _won't!_ " I cried in abrupt, searing anger, facing towards him and lifting my uninjured wing. "I worked _so_ hard on this! Why don't _you_ understand?"

"I'm _trying_ ," Dad begged. "But this is too much, Hiccup! Don't you see the danger of this path you're heading down?"

"No! I don't!" My throat began to well up, and I swallowed heavily. "I thought—I thought you were trying to _help_ me. Not _force_ what you want."

Dad was already shaking his head, his expression pained and lost. He lowered his voice in stark comparison to my yelling, trying to calm me down. "I'm not, Hiccup. But _you_ are, and it's going to end up with you being killed in another one of these 'freak accidents'."

"No, it won't!" I snapped.

"You don't know that!" Dad responded in kind, his voice filled with terror.

"Neither do you!" I returned. My chest burned with the hammering of my heart, and I was shaking so much I could hardly see straight. "This is one of the few things that makes me feel _better_ , Dad! I thought you were _okay_ with that! Why _aren't_ you?!"

Dad's eyes filled with pain and pity, and he threw his hands out and pointed at my body.

"Because you're not a dragon anymore, son!"

A dark shadow swept upon me, stifling the light within.

 _Yes I am!_ I wanted more than nothing else to snarl back, to flare my wings open, to shriek every word in dragon I knew at him, to command my nestmates like the King I was, all in a showcase of just how wrong he was.

But…

But he wasn't.

...wasn't he?

"No," I breathed, my face slack and my eyes unfocused. "No, that's not...it's not…"

He was wrong. He was wrong! He had to be!

" _No_ ," Toothless leapt to my defense. " _You wrong! Hiccup, no listen. Up!_ "

Dad's gaze bored into mine, filled with sorrow and pity.

Because at the roots of it all, that's what all of this was, wasn't it? Wishful thinking? Trying to be something I _wasn't_ anymore? Because if I didn't, I would have to face the truth—I would have to deal with this harsh reality that I so vehemently wanted to transform into what I wanted, into something long-since lost to the past.

If I couldn't be _me_ anymore, then whatwas I? What was the _point?_

"No!" I said again. I shook my head, at a loss for words.

"Hiccup…" Dad crept closer. He reached for me with a shaking hand, the moonlight glistening in his eyes.

I leapt to my feet. The sudden jostling made me hiss with pain. Still, I lurched towards Toothless, my breath thin between clenched teeth.

"I don't...understand," I struggled to say, my head still foggy, leaning on my brother like he was the only thing keeping me here. "I'm…I'm..."

 _A liar_ , the shadow seemed to whisper in my ear. _A fake._

 _A human._

" _No_ ," I growled. Without even meaning to, my eyes caught on my artificial wings, on Toothless' artificial tailfin.

A violent, visceral shudder wracked through my limbs, making me pull my wings in and clench my hands into white-knuckled fists.

Fake. It was all fake. None of it was real.

" _It is fine_ ," Toothless murmured, nudging me closer to his shoulders. " _Us go. It is fine._ "

"It's not," I ground out. "It's _not!_ I—I—"

 _What is_ wrong _with me?_

Dad had slowly inched himself upright, and again he held out complacent hands, his eyes forlorn but his jaw set with determination. "Hiccup, I know—I know it's hard. But it's something you _have_ to face, son." He extended his hand out to me, wide and open. "It's the only way you'll recover."

I stared at his hand, at the gentle way he offered it to me. "But my wings have helped me recover," I rasped.

Dad's voice never lost its firm, solemn quiet. "They're not wings, Hiccup. And you are not a dragon."

A cold spike flew from my heart and through my veins. Toothless gave a low, rising growl.

 _No!_ I wanted to shriek at him. _You're wrong!_

Dad inched his hand closer.

He had to be wrong!

All of it was boiling over—all the confusion, all the pain, all the desperation. My mind went blank as I stared at him, lost and almost _drowning_ in it all.

I did the first—and only—thing that came to mind.

I looked my father in the eye, bared my blunt _human_ teeth, and let loose a searing, thin, _confused_ hiss.

It was the first time I had ever hissed or growled at him on _purpose_ —andthe horror that the lit up in Dad's eyes showed that he knew the same.

Dad wrenched away, and before I could think twice, I leapt up onto Toothless' shoulders.

For a broken moment, Dad looked at me like I really _was_ a dragon, his skin corpse-pale, his eyes bulging, his mouth parted in horror.

"H-Hiccup?" He breathed. His voice tight with the slightest hint of betrayal, "Hiccup, please, we've—we've been doing so well—please, just _try_ to listen to me—"

I met his eyes, a brief flash of guilt sweeping over me. A thick lump formed in my throat.

And Toothless _roared_ at him.

"Hiccup!" Dad begged. "Don't—"

But we were already gone.

 **o.O.o**

Stoick

I found them in the cove.

They were surrounded by their kind, the whole lot of them packed together on the ground like Terrors squeezing onto a warm stone. The lake nestled in the middle of the cove roiled with deep ripples, distorting every reflection within it.

The strength in my legs left me.

I didn't know what to _do_ anymore.

Lifting my eyes to the heavens, I wondered if she was watching from Valhalla—my beautiful Valka, always the kinder of us, the more reasonable, the cool touch there to quell a raging fire burning out of control. I could almost feel her disappointment thundering down upon me with the fury of the gods, blazing me with shame and sin.

Gods, how I wanted to make things right. Gods, how I _begged_ them for guidance, how I turned over every memory in my head, how I stared into the fire every night as I wracked my useless, stupid brain for answers. With every dream, I relived the past as a ghost, howling pointlessly at myself to stop.

I only knew what I could, what I was, and it was not enough.

And my son was reaping the penalty for it, again and again and _again._

I would not let him see the ocean of tears that welled in my eyes and trailed down my cheeks. I would not let him think for one second that it was his fault, his responsibility, his mistake.

I had done him wrong enough, more than his ever-soft heart could take. Deep down, I knew that he would try to forgive me—he had always been as gentle as his mother, inheriting that thoughtfulness and empathy that was so rare in Berk that it was scorned as softness. I myself had been caught up in it, always so desperate to _change_ him, to make sure that he would be able to survive in a cruel and heartless world without me.

I had never thought that I would be the source of the cruelty and heartlessness. Even now, with reality hammering down upon me like a blacksmith beats his sword into shape, I was making the same mistakes over and over.

Hiccup was the forgiving type, a rarity in the North.

I honestly did not know if he could do it, nor that I deserved it. Not this time.

The broken, conflicted way he had snarled at me seared in my eyes, almost blinding me from the real world. My words had cut into him like dragon talons through flesh, like fire through a fragile house, like a ship through the unbroken sea. I had swept away his protection like a hurricane bowling over an island, leaving him exposed and vulnerable.

Unhappiness. Defeat. Hopelessness.

They had swam in those lost and confused eyes. I would have feared the worst for him had Toothless not been there keeping close watch over him.

I would have feared him already gone.

This whole time, I had waited for Hiccup to finally accept the truth. For him to move on. I had begged and prayedfor it, just to see a real smile from him again, to be able to hold a conversation with him without fear lighting in his eyes.

He had been improving. I had been filled with hope.

Far too late, I realized that his progression was directly tied with his slipping away, with his becoming more and more engrossed in what he wasn't. With each step he _fought_ and _clawed_ his way closer to being a dragon, with each delusion he and Toothless fed into each other, he came closer and closer to setting himself up for crippling failure, a pain that cannot be recovered from.

In the wake of a battle, of seeing him injured, of seeing in the future a worse fate for him, I had tried to prevent this failure in a last, desperate act—in a stubborn, thoughtless, heartless, _stupid_ barrage.

By some cruel turning of fate's hand, it was _I_ that had been the one to push him over the edge, when I had been trying to coax him from it.

Taking a deep breath, I wiped my tears away and set my sights back into the present. I wasn't going to let this lie here and fester. That was a mistake I would not make again.

Hiccup needed his father. Not the Chief.

I took every weapon from my belt and stepped into the cove.

Dragon eyes snapped open. Gnarly teeth flashed. Fire lit up the darkness.

Hundreds of dragon eyes gleamed in the shadows, burning with hatred and the intent to kill.

"Toothless?" I called.

Hisses and snarls swept through the cove, like phantoms whispering sad truths.

The dragons parted, and the unholy offspring of lightning and death met me midway. He almost blended into the shadows, his form difficult to discern from our surroundings. The dragon was far smaller than myself, but here in his territory, he seemed to tower above me.

His brilliant eyes bore the same pain as my son, the same shocked betrayal that had glimmered in his eyes. As much as it pained me and filled my heart with shameful jealousy, this dragon had been the one to support my son, to comfort him, to love him. He seemed to feel Hiccup's pain as his own, and to know what was best for him—even more than me.

Baring teeth and gums, the dragon narrowed his eyes and settled into a defensive posture. He kept his head held high and grunted once.

 _State your purpose._

The stars in their multitudes were replaced by dragon eyes looming above. Heat pulsed from every direction as the dragons openly let their fire seep from their maws, a moment's decision from turning me to ash.

"Is he alright?" I whispered.

Toothless raised a lip and shook his head.

I almost rushed forward, but remembered myself. To nobody, I pleaded, "Is he—is he asleep?"

The dark dragon nodded. The knife held against my heart was lifted, and I forced a deep breath to calm myself down.

Toothless took one step forward, claws boring into the soft earth, and threw his head. He lifted that clawed paw and _pointed_ , just like a person. The wall of dragons inched closer like the tide draws ever-nearer, unstoppable.

 _Leave._

I met the dragon's gaze, letting the hate and betrayal in them bore into me as I rightly deserved.

And I dropped to my knees before him, letting myself sit exposed underneath his teeth and fire.

A hushed whisper, a surprised blink, and the Night Fury turned suspicious eyes onto me. He approached me regally, wings held wide open as they melted into the night. He only stopped when he could come no closer, and he rose above me like a dragon thrice his height.

"I have done you both so much harm," I whispered. "I am not here to beg forgiveness, because I have done nothing to earn it."

The malice in the dragon's eyes made them almost glow, shining bright in the moonless sky.

"Some time ago, I approached you to ask for guidance," I went on. "It was a selfish thing to do, to ask you to speak to me on Hiccup's behalf." I looked down at my hands. "Although he has hardly spoken to me on these matters, his actions say enough. I just wasn't listening."

Nothing moved around me. Every dragon was so tense and still that one could hear the soft wind blow by and the small splashes of the lake.

I lifted my gaze to those scorching, scornful eyes. "It kills me to see him like this, Toothless," I admitted in a weak murmur. "He's so unhappy. He does his best to hide it, but he can't. It's eating away at him, and I'm terrified that soon there won't be anything left."

Now something else replaced the fury in Toothless' gaze.

It was fear.

"All I've ever wanted was to have my son back," I said. "But this isn't Hiccup. This is forcing him into a life he despises. He's a ghost of what he once was, and...and I cannot stand by that. I want my son back, and that means I want him to be _happy._ I want him to be free of this suffering. I _love_ him, Toothless, and I…"

I took in a shuddering breath.

"…I want what's best for him."

Pain pulsed through my heart, but I had already come to accept it. This, I could do for him.

"Please," I said.

I stared deep into Toothless' eyes.

"Please return him to his dragon form."


	10. Chapter 10

**Hello, everyone!**

 **First off, I'd like to thank Zeklyn, Monoace, Samateus-Taal, flopy, TheWhisperingWarrior, T-thenightfury, Elt-1080, Laluzi, Lightwavers, OseanSoldier, Nacktgranate, markoatonc, Cyeithen, TheFuriousNightFury, Varghul, CrisDLZ, Brenne, Nitroexpress, DevoutRelic, Anonymous Noob the 2nd, SAI2, LlamaQueen666, Blocksmasher2, dynanskenjin, faenova, Swoab, NightShadow9558, hawthorneash13, Crysist, and all guest reviewers for your wonderful and thoughtful reviews! Seriously, you guys, all of your reviews were so amazing to read! Shout-out to the one reviewer who mentioned Hiccup going to a gym, which made me laugh inappropriately loud in the middle of a lecture hall. And as always, thanks to my beta Crysist for all your hard work!**

 **Without further ado, enjoy! I hope you have a nice day!**

* * *

 **Chapter 10**

Toothless

The cove was as silent as the dead, and just as cold.

My breath caught in my throat and my heart thundered in my ears. I could almost convince myself that I had been tricked by the human or that I'd somehow misheard him. Not because I didn't _want_ to hear what he'd told me, but because I simply could not believe it.

He wanted Hiccup to be a dragon again, and maybe just as much as we did.

The sincerity in the King's eyes was what finally broke the spell locking me in place. I curled upon myself, hanging my head and wings, leaving myself vulnerable before him.

"…You can't, can you?" The King murmured in sudden realization. More to himself, he said, "Of course…why else wouldn't you have?"

I lifted my head to look at him, almost awed at the disappointment in his drooping shoulders and downcast eyes.

Swift as lightning, I realized just how much of a gods-damned _fool_ I was.

I wanted to hate the King. After everything he had done to us, after how difficult it had been adapting to life on Berk, I had _craved_ for a scapegoat…and the King had been the perfect fit. It was so easy to blame everything on him, especially with his reluctance to punish us for our mistakes. His desperation to rebuild the broken bond between him and Hiccup was obvious, and I had still had no problem criticizing his every move.

The King wasn't completely at fault, and despite all his efforts, I had always been treating him as though he was. I had never let myself open up to the possibility of his redemption, and in doing so, I had created a barrier between him and Hiccup.

A thought snapped to the forefront of my mind, and my heart sank.

Was all of this…my fault?

Had I been more open, had I been more encouraging towards the King, had I not been so quick to snatch Hiccup away and flee just like I'd done a few hours ago, would we even be here now? Had _I_ been the one preventing the mending of their relationship?

I didn't know. Gods damn it all, I wouldn't _ever_ know. Regardless, the thought that I had indirectly caused my brother, and even the King, so much pain…

A shudder crept down my spine.

I didn't want to waste time mulling over it anymore. All I could do was move on, for all our sakes.

I leaned down to the King's eye level. The very sight of him bowing before me gave me a sense of wrong, like it should be myself in his place instead.

He grimaced, squeezing his eyes shut and bracing himself for my strike.

"I'm sorry," I whispered to him.

Closing my eyes, I drifted closer, hesitated, and pressed my forehead against his.

The King stiffened, as did I.

Several breaths later, a soft paw brushed against my temple.

Unable to bear the sight of him bowing to me any longer, I ducked my head under his arm. The King jolted, but then let me help him to his feet, his paw still a light touch. He waited for me to back away first, his eyes wide and uncertain.

For several moments we stared into each other, flanked by Hiccup's and my nestmates.

"We...need to get Hiccup," I finally murmured, turning away and nodding for the King to follow. He fell into step behind me easily, almost as if he had understood.

I didn't know what to do—but I did know that, more than anything, the both of us needed Hiccup here. Because _Hiccup_ had to hear this from his father. And _I_ needed Hiccup to be here, so that I wouldn't make a giant disaster of this. Again.

The thought of Hiccup hearing his father's request both made my heart sink and lift with joy—that he would find relief in the source of his grief. I wanted to lift my head and snarl a curse at the gods for their cruel sense of irony, that only _now_ , after _all_ of this pain we had endured at the feet of the King, the Queen, and fate— _now_ was when we _finally_ found acceptance. Had it been just a few moons earlier, then none of this would have ever happened.

Had it been just a few moons earlier, then perhaps...perhaps Hiccup would have still been a dragon.

I stopped where I had been walking, my claws digging into the soft earth and my head bowed. The King halted, shooting me a concerned look.

The shock of the King's words had worn away, leaving behind a dull emptiness that sucked away at me. I _wanted_ to grant his request, more than anything, more than I could have ever dreamed.

It wasn't possible.

...wasn't it?

I had already failed my brother once. Was I doing it again?

Was it... _selfish_ of me to outright forbid an attempt, when it was the thing he wanted the most? Or was it tough love, to know its dangers and prevent him from recklessly throwing himself into it as he always did? Was it fair to deny, or _unfair_ to allow?

I felt as though I had suddenly crashed through solid ice, having been certain it was solid until the moment it shattered beneath my weight.

My thoughts of this had always been grounded in pessimism; Hiccup could not be returned to his true form without the very real risk of death, and therefore, it was no use toying with ideas. But the King's desperate plea had thrown fire into that carefully-constructed defense, burning it away inch by inch like the slow and steady crawl of a forest fire.

It _wasn't_ possible. For it to be safe, at the very least. I knew that. I _knew_ that! Why was I doing this to myself? Why was I letting myself plummet down this dark path, where nothing but pain and disappointment awaited me?

But…

"Is it possible?" I wondered aloud, eyes trailing up to the Dragoness of the Moon above.

Almost immediately, an elder Flame-Skin stepped in front of me, the moonlight glistening across his aged gray-yellow scales. He bowed deeply and said wearily, "My King, I know that in the wake of battle, it is tempting." He gave a long sigh. "Very tempting...but I will not participate in such an act."

Another elder, the blind Little-Biter, hobbled up on her stringy legs and dipped her head low. "Nor will I."

And another, a Two-Head, "And with great sorrow, nor will I."

There were a sizable amount of elders in our nest—at least a score, maybe two. My heart began to hammer as, one by one, they stepped forward. As one by one, they refused their aid. As one by one, they openly defied me, one of their Kings and Saviors.

The elder Hum-Wing, whom had been in our flare when we fought the Queen, was the last to lumber forward. She spread her paper-thin wings and bowed. "And that makes me the last, my King."

A stunned silence overcame myself and the rest of our nestmates. Every dragon openly gaped at the elders for what they had done. To defy a King or Queen was treasonous, an act of the lowest disrespect. It was a great insult to a King to be challenged, especially in this manner. It carried the strong implication that he was thought to be incapable of protecting his home and nest—the sharpest sting to a dragon sworn to lead.

To defy a King so openly could easily mean banishment from the nest.

Shock mingled with anger, confusion, _shame_ , relief. I stood there, well and truly at a loss for words. That the most highly-respected members of our nest, and a close friend at that, would openly and unabashedly do this…and when I was at my weakest, without Hiccup at my side, filled with doubt...

"...why?" I finally said.

The elders shuffled, and the Hum-Wing stepped forward as their speaker.

"You know this as well as I, my King," she rumbled, her eyes sympathetic but her voice strict and stern. "To request an attempted transformation of our King is to request his death."

I lowered my head and pinned my ears, both furious at myself and frustrated with their open defiance, even though I knew that they were right.

The Hum-Wing's expression softened. With a less-scolding tone, she said, "Medicine-leaves and magic are not handy when there is too much internal bleeding, nor if organs are malformed or completely absent, nor when bones and joints are broken and twisted."

Every dragon in sight, myself included, grimaced at the mental image. A horrible fantasy sprung into my mind, of _Hiccup_ broken and dying like that, and all at our own paws. It made my legs almost lose their strength, a spike of fear to shoot through me.

The Little-Biter let out a wheezy laugh. "You are always so _serious_ , Hum-Wing," she croaked. She hobbled towards me and stopped just at my feet. "Come down here, if you do not mind, my King."

With a twitching tail, I lowered my head. The Little-Biter purred, pressing her forehead against mine.

"There you are," she murmured. She withdrew and blinked her blind eyes up at mine. "You are young, and have been thrown into a position you were never quite ready for. I do not blame you. The battle for our home was a difficult test for you Kings, and I understand how you could almost convince yourself that you must do this for the better."

She sat down and let out a long sigh. "Ah...but we have always known the King cannot return to his Shadow-Blender form. And it is, I think, for the best. I know it is hard for you to understand, and I suppose...that only comes to me through my own old age." She shrugged, ruffling her translucent wings. "This is not simply a matter of body, but of mind, my King. Even a miracle like changing the King back would not _truly_ heal the shadows that haunt him."

The rest of the elders murmured small agreements.

I met all of their eyes—none of them resentful, all of them kind and worried—and dropped my head. They had made up their minds, a decision that had been made moons ago, and yet it still stung like the first time they had delivered the news.

It was _humiliating_ to be talked down to like a scolded yearling over something I already knew, and without Hiccup besides me, at that. But I supposed it was something I deserved, for having even brought it up in the first place.

"V-very well," I whispered, staring at the soft grass below. A beat passed, and with a sigh, I added, "Thank you for your honesty."

The Little-Biter gave a rattling laugh. "And just like that, you've passed another very important test, my King." She nosed my forehead. "A wise King takes his nestmates' thoughts into account...something the Queen never even allowed in the first place."

I took in a shaking breath, swallowed, and nodded. "Thank you," I said again, more sincerely now.

The elders bowed, as did I. I turned back towards the King, who was extremely confused, and motioned us onwards.

"Is Hiccup over there?" He asked, his voice tinged with the slightest bit of anxiety.

I nodded. Like the rest of our nestmates, Hiccup and I were taking turns sleeping while the other half stayed on-watch. Having just been attacked, no dragon was too keen on leaving our nest vulnerable again.

"Is he...with the rest of the dragons?"

At this, I shook my head; some had been left behind in Berk, just in case.

The King pursed his lips, looking above. "Ah, so the rest are flying above?"

I halted mid-step.

The speed at which every dragon that understood Norse looked up would have been almost comical at any other time. The rest remained hyper-focused on the human King and myself, completely unaware.

There were dragons flying far above—the only indications of their presence being their shadows racing through the dimming stars.

"Nestmates!" I growled, eyes wide and ears pinned. "Enemy dragons! After them!"

" _Understood!_ " They cried. The cove filled with gales as our nestmates launched into the air, the sudden peace and stillness filled with the roars of dragons and wind.

At the very same moment, far off in the distance, there was an explosion.

It came from Berk.

The King and I both froze, whipping towards the sound. Within moments, the King had collected himself and whipped towards me, his expression stony and serious, even as an orange glow erupted above the treeline.

In a stern, commanding voice, he said, "Toothless, stay here with Hiccup."

I balked at him. " _What?_ " I hissed, whipping my tail. Anger and frustration swept through me, and I struggled to contain it.

The King drew himself to his full height, and declared with all his authority, "Hiccup is in no state to fight when he's injured. You have to keep him here, where it's safe, and not up _there_ with all the fire. If he could barely keep himself alive earlier, he's a disaster just waiting to happen now."

I narrowed my eyes at him and lifted my wings. I'd had enough of being talked down to tonight. "Our nestmates need us—"

"Stay! Here!" The King growled, jabbing at the ground with his paw. "I'm trusting you to keep him safe, Toothless!"

We met our eyes. Neither of us moved.

The King must have seen something in me, because he swiveled on his foot and charged out of the cove. With a disgruntled snort, I turned and sprinted in the opposite direction, towards the cave Hiccup and some of our nestmates, including the fledglings, were still in.

None of them were at its entrance. With my heart hammering in my ears, I leapt into it at full speed, only to stumble to a halt.

Hiccup had been with Stormfly, Hookfang, and the fledglings. Now he was struggling to keep them all calm, being the only adult for them to look to. He was speaking to Stormfly and Hookfang in a soothing voice—but suddenly, his dragon-tongue seemed to be failing him. He would attempt to speak, only for frustration to mar his voice, leaving it sounding garbled and meaningless.

" _Hiccup!_ " I shouted, scrambling in.

Hiccup spun around, his eyes huge and skin pale. "Toothless! What..."

" _Enemy nest here! Again!_ " I hissed.

Hiccup bared his teeth at the exterior of the cave. "That's what I'd thought," he growled.

The cave filled with light.

A moment later, and an ear-splitting boom rattled the cove, sending debris raining down from the ceiling of the cave and the outside.

The fledglings fled to the back of the cave, squealing in terror. Stormfly and Hookfang backed up with them, providing a shield with their bodies.

Hiccup was on my back before the boom of the explosion had faded. I risked poking my head out of the hole and scanned the cove, gasping for breath. Almost immediately, Hiccup hissed a warning, eyes locked above. A high-pitched whistle filled the air.

Hiccup, our nestmates, and I all scrambled to the back and braced ourselves against the cave walls, anticipating the heat of fire to swim over us.

There was no fire—but there _was_ a soft grunt as a stranger landed at the cave's entrance.

"Do not fear!" Came the stranger's voice in a panicked, odd accent. "Please, we can help! Call off your nestmates!"

I gave him no warning.

Within the blink of the eye, I was upon him, clamping onto his neck with my claws. The intruder cried out in fear and alarm, whipping his head in an attempt to throw me. He took off from his perch, flinging us into the sky at too high a speed for me to let go. Hiccup's claws tightened painfully around my neck and side-frills.

With a final swing, I lost my grip. Hiccup and I tumbled through the air with twin shouts.

I sighted the ground and twisted my torso to match it. Snapping my wings out, I flung my tail behind me and fought to level out, twirling from side to side. The wind was raking through my wings from all directions, threatening to strain and tear.

Spinning one more time, I waited for us to be righted-out and clutched my wings in a dive. After a few seconds of freefall, I flung my wings out and flared my tailfins into a gliding position. The force of slowing down threatened to topple me over, and I counteracted it with shallow flaps. It was enough to maintain lift evenly from my nose to tailtip-fins.

After several second's worth of wild see-sawing, we leveled out just above the forest, facing towards Berk in the east. The dragon that we had attacked was gone, and there weren't any above us. The sun was rising.

Panting from exertion, I squinted and realized:

That wasn't the sun.

"Oh, gods…" Hiccup whispered.

Berk was up in flames.

Fire was streaking through the sky above and inside Berk. The enemy nest had targeted the humans once more. Even from this distance, I could see that their group was much, much larger.

They were evenly matched with us now. Fear bloomed within my chest.

Two raids in one night? Reinforcements on the second attack?

What did they _want?_

" _Us protect_ ," I snarled with fury.

With several half-flaps, I picked up speed towards Berk.

Hiccup was frozen on my back, his breaths coming in and out in sharp wheezes. In a small, lost voice, he said, "I…I can't."

I glanced over my shoulder, eyes wide. " _Yes you!_ " I said. " _Hiccup, you smart and good! It is fine—me promise!_ "

His dim eyes were locked on the fires afar, his face pale. "I'm just dead weight," he breathed. "Everything I do is fake. I can't do anything without needing you to catch me."

" _No, Hiccup_ ," I said, forcing my tone to be calm and comforting. "Me _need you._ "

Hiccup's expression contorted, and he tightened his claws. "I'll just drag us down. I can't do _anything_ except worry everybody."

" _No—_ "

"I'm a _human_ , Toothless!" Hiccup cried. "What good am I?! No matter what I do, I'll always fall!"

I gaped at him, at a loss for words. " _Hiccup…_ "

"I can't…" He buried his nose into my neck and shuddered. "I can't fly, o-or speak, or fight…I'm completely useless! Everything I do is just me lying!"

" _No!_ " I hissed. " _Hiccup, you wrong! You hear me?_ _Listen me!_ "

Hiccup ignored me. "I can't even protect one little fledgling…"

I shook my head vehemently, my heart hammering. " _Hiccup, you wrong._ _No you fault! You think me ready, or smart, or no scared? No, Hiccup! Me need_ you! _Nestmate need_ you! _Father and human need_ you!"

We were almost upon Berk now. The heat of the fire could be easily felt—as did the updrafts.

The first one hit us hard, flinging us astray. We were flying too low to the treeline, and as I tipped to the side, my wing caught up in the canopy. I had no other choice: I had to clutch my wings in, or risk snapping them against the merciless branches below.

We fell through the trees just outside of Berk, and it was only through dumb luck that I was able to open my wings with enough time to soften the impact. I landed hard and eased myself into a sprint, weaving through the trees as fast as I could. Hiccup pressed close to my back, holding on easily despite the speed at which we were moving.

A full minute passed before we broke through the forest and into the open, standing atop a cliffside overlooking the western edge of Berk.

Berk was alive with flame, burning so intensely it was painful to look at. Even at this distance, the inferno sent enormous drafts of heat that threatened to fill my wings and fling me backwards. Humans and dragons alike were screaming, clashing with one another both in the skies and the human nest.

The weight on my back disappeared.

" _Hiccup?!_ " I gasped. " _What?!_ "

He looked into me, his eyes old and weary. "I'm just a burden in battle, Toothless. I mean, look at what good I did last time. You could've helped, but instead you spent all of your time keeping me out of trouble."

I narrowed my eyes at him. " _No, Hiccup!_ _That not—ugh!_ " Throwing my head back, I groaned, "Well, two can play at that game!"

I plopped down right in front of him.

"Toothless, what are you—"

" _Us always together_ ," I growled. " _You no fly, me no fly._ "

"Toothless…" Hiccup drooped. "Just _go._ Our nestmates need you more than they need me."

I twisted my neck around to look him in the eye. He was staring at his human paws, his wings tucked away.

My defiant glare softened. " _Me understand, Hiccup. You no stupid. Talk good, remember?_ "

He shrugged. "What is there to say?" He sighed. "Everything I do is just _pretending._ Just like Dad said…I'm just gonna get myself killed, and it'll be _all_ my fault, and then you'llhave to…"

He didn't finish his sentence: _And then I'll have to carry on in a world without him._

" _No, Hiccup_. _Me understand you scared and sad, but you no that. You no liar!_ " I said, shaking my head. I sat up and nudged him towards me. " _You good. You smart. You King. And me love you. No need more, Hiccup._ "

His eyes were watery in the firelight. He gave a choked laugh, rubbing at his eyes with a paw, and clambered back onto my back. For the first time in hours, he spoke in dragon, " _S-sorry, Toothless._ "

" _No sorry,_ " I corrected. "Me _sorry. Me need you, Hiccup. No forget, okay? No forget you good?_ "

He forced a smile and nodded.

"Okay?" I pressed.

" _Okay_ ," he said.

Hiccup had always been a bad liar. I frowned, eyes half-lidded and ears drooping.

" _A-and me need you, Toothless_ ," He added, looking down at his human paws. This was said earnestly, genuinely.

It would have to do. Our nestmates needed us, and as selfish as it was of me to ask him, I needed Hiccup to be there with me.

With a shaking sigh, Hiccup repositioned himself on my back. I faced towards Berk, taking a moment to get my bearings. Our nestmates seemed evenly-matched this time, fighting to regain lost ground. The battle was exceptionally more difficult this time, the odds no longer even placed in our favor.

And yet, my heart lifted.

Berk's humans were joined side-by-side with our nestmates, keeping the enemy dragons at bay. In places where the defense was broken and an intruder tried to snatch up a human, a nestmate was there to save them. In turn, where nestmates were cornered or chased, a group of humans was eager to leap into action.

" _Hiccup, look!_ " I gasped. " _Berk human fight with our nestmate!_ "

He leaned forward to peer down at our nest. "R-really?!" He exclaimed, life and hope returning to his voice.

A figure thundered past just inches away from my nose, making the two of us yelp. By the time I'd looked up, the intruder had twisted around midair and drawn into a hover far above. I crouched and hissed, bringing gas to my throat. We were at a severe disadvantage standing underneath them, completely exposed to a rain of fire.

"Who are you?!" I demanded. "Why are you here?!"

Now that he was holding still, I could get a good look at the intruder. He was a very colorful dragon, about my size, with stripes and rosettes and a crest that merged into raised plates running down his spine. Just like me, he had four legs and a pair of slender wings, but only a single, oval-shaped tailtip-fin. His age was betrayed by a slight graying around his muzzle and paws.

Hiccup stiffened upon my back and hissed a warning. A moment later, I realized: this was the colorful dragon that _both_ of us had recognized before, and had been part of the group that had tried to steal Hiccup away.

"You are a Savior, correct? Where is the other one?" The intruder gasped. His voice was heavily accented, showing just how far he and his ignorant nestmates had traveled.

Although he was in no position to ask questions, I snarled, "Yes, we are Saviors! Now leave our territory!" I opened my jaw wide, showing the gas pooled in my throat.

" _Toothless, wait—_ " Hiccup whispered.

The intruder narrowed his eyes. "But...what is that creature upon your back? As strange as it seems, I cannot tell whether it is a dragon or not. I could have sworn I saw it fly earlier this night, but now it has no wings. And I know it did not seem able to fly some time ago." He tilted his head. "Are you saying _that_ is the human Savior?"

I bared all my teeth in a fearsome snarl at the casual way he said this, like picking away at Hiccup's deepest conflict was a mere curiosity.

My firelight was already reflecting in his eyes by the time he'd realized what happened. The intruder screeched and backpedaled, but he was too slow—my fire hit him directly in his torso. He rolled backwards through the air, flipped over, and sped away.

He gave a leading call, and many of his nestmates rose up above the smoke clouds with him. Not good; they were organizing another strike!

I gave chase, leaping off the cliff and opening my wings. The thermals from the fires lifted me as easily as a summer breeze, and I pumped my wings, pushing the artificial tailtip-fin to its limits.

Looking down at Berk, I grimaced at the sight of dragons and humans alike lying on the ground amidst the flames. My eyes trailed through their masses, only to lock on one figure—and on the Flame-Skin and the humans besides it, one human shaking it desperately and the rest standing aside with defeated body language.

Oh, Dragoness of the Moon—!

Gods damn it, of _all_ the times for her to disobey us!

" _Stormfly_ ," I whispered.

Hiccup followed my gaze and gave a choked gasp, his grip on me loosening dangerously. "No…no…"

Then, in sudden fear, "Look out!"

I twisted around to see a black Two-Walker diving from above, talons readied to knock us right out of the air.

Closer and closer she came, enough for me to see every emotion in her eyes, including…guilt?

"I'm sorry!" She cried, her voice high with desperation and fear. "We _have_ to do this!"

That accent—I knew it, I knew that voice—

There was no time to mull it over. I pinned my wings and dropped moments before she struck Hiccup. We swerved heart-stoppingly close to the flaming wood-caves, and I flung my wings open again, swooping over them unsteadily. The updrafts were coming from every direction this close to the wood-caves; if we stayed down here too long, we'd flip over.

There was an explosion nearby. It filled my wings with a sudden, powerful gale, sending me spiraling upwards!

"Hold on!" I screamed to Hiccup, who was also screaming. Fire and embers and smoke danced in dizzying circles around us, obscuring all of Berk from view. I spread my wings out and swung my tail, desperately trying to find the _right_ direction to go. Hiccup threw his weight to the left, and without thinking, I tilted my body towards it, finally evening out—

We smacked into something firm, yet soft.

Right next to my ear, an accented voice grunted, " _Oof!_ "

There was a second impact that rattled to my bones, but not nearly as painful as expected. I scrabbled around and lurched off of the intruder we'd landed on, shaking the dizziness away.

"I'm so, so sorry!" The intruder squealed, a cyan dragon about my age. She flipped around but kept her belly and head low, wings fluttering in a half-bow. "We desperately need your help! Please, please listen to us! Is that the other Savior?!"

I snorted derisively. "Of course! And _you_ want to _us_ to listen?" Narrowing my eyes and lifting my head, I growled, "Look around you! Look at this destruction! This is _our_ territory, and we have had to protect it from your shameless nest twice now! In _one_ night!"

The stranger whimpered. "I-I'm sorry, Savior. But we _had_ to come back, and the humans…"

"We protect them, too!" I hissed.

She gawked at me, taking slow steps away. "But…humans…they _trap_ you all here, don't they?"

"Is—is _that_ why you're here?!" I gasped.

"N-no, Savior! I'm so sorry! We—we need your help, and—and we thought _you_ needed help, too!" She focused on Hiccup and begged, "Please, Savior, you must come with us! Our nest desperately needs your help!"

Hiccup was listening but half-turned away, keeping an eye out for danger. He let out a sudden snarl, teeth bared and crouched low against my back. Without a second thought, I sprung away.

An intruding dragon raced just past the spot I'd been standing.

I had a moment to meet their eyes—wide, anxious, guilty—and they were gone. But just as they passed overhead, a woodclaw launched right into them from below, piercing deep into their flesh. With a strangled scream, the dragon dropped out of sight.

They did not rise.

" _No!_ " The intruder shrieked, taking wing after her nestmate. "No, Dragoness of the Moon, please no, please no!"

"Oh, Dragoness of the Moon," Hiccup swore in a shaking voice. "T-Toothless, this needs to stop—they'll all be killed at this rate!"

I couldn't hold back a small, sad smile—leave it to Hiccup, amidst all his pain, to be concerned about the dragons _invading our territory._

The sight of Stormfly, Hookfang crouched beside her limp form, flung into my mind's eye as a painful reminder that he probably wasn't _only_ concerned about the intruders.

Lifting my head to the heavens, I howled, " _Nestmates!_ Drive them north, back where they came! Form a line!"

All around the nest, there was an echoing cry, " _UNDERSTOOD!_ "

The objective gave our nestmates a second wind. Fire erupted across the sky like bolts of lightning. An entire line of dragons grew just over Berk, a barrier between the intruders and our home. The intruders were pushed back with pleading shrieks, begging us to allow them to continue this cowardly strike.

I was satisfied to see that none of them had succeeded in carrying a human off with them. It seemed their little plan to "save" us from being "trapped" had gone just as well as expected.

Narrowing my eyes, I braced myself and ruffled my wings. Hiccup and I exchanged a glance, and the both of us braced ourselves.

I raced towards some wood-caves cast in flames, launched myself into the air, and let the updraft launch us upwards. As we rose, I tried to tilt my body up to rise faster, but was met with expected resistance. Were it not for Hiccup's stable weight on my shoulders, I would have flipped completely over from the unsteady air below. Yet with his support, I was able to ascend at a speed that would not have been possible without him.

I waited until we were higher than the intruders and let out a roar:

"Leave our territory at once, or we shall strike you all down! We are the Saviors, and our territory will be respected!"

Without waiting for a reply, I filled my throat with gas and opened my magic channels. My fireball blazed far into the flock of invaders, exploding brilliantly in the firelit smoke. Several dragons fell, only righting themselves just before they crashed into the snarling line below. Those that remained backpedaled with wide, terrified eyes.

Almost all of the intruders had been herded away from Berk, with our nestmates creating a wall preventing them from advancing. They all drew into hovers, letting their fires leave their mouths and some even making a show of unsheathing their claws.

I wasn't buying it.

Not for the first time, I tried to push my body up and my tail down to go into a hover. I wobbled unsteadily in the air, and Hiccup clutched tight to my back, shifting his weight every time a stray air current rocked us to the side. I had to flap my wings as hard and fast as I could, but with Hiccup's help, I managed to stay put…for now. Even _I_ knew that I couldn't keep this up, not when it was so strenuous.

"We're sorry!" An intruder gasped, flapping frantically to get out of my range. "We aren't trying to take your territory!"

Another screeched in desperation, "Please, we need the Savior's help, and we thought—we thought we could return the favor! We thought the humans were forcing you to be slaves, just like they do to us!"

I reared my head, but before I could say anything, a furious snarl came from one of our nestmates—Meatlug.

"Then why fight _us?!_ " She said, with an equally-enraged Barf and Belch hovering at her side. "I witnessed your cowardice with my own eyes! I saw you strike down that poor yearling Two-Walker as she called out to you in offerings of peace! I saw your nestmates bring their fire upon her, I saw how they hunted her playmate when he tried to defend her! I saw the attempts to carry our humans off!"

"But a human had cornered her!" Pleaded the same black Two-Walker from before with the odd, familiar voice. "I'm sorry! I was trying to save her, and the Flame-Skin was fighting us!"

" _Toothless?_ " Hiccup whispered.

" _Do not know_ ," I hissed. " _Attack Stormfly, Hookfang, and Berk human!_ "

To the intruders, I snapped, "The humans here are included in our protection! We live beside them, and we do not need your help! This is your final warning! As both King and Savior, I command that you retreat!"

I opened my jaw wide to show the purple-white fire blazing within. The air rippled with the echoing growls of our nestmates.

Whether intimidated by my titles or my flame, the intruders knew better than to argue. With heads hanging and eyes downcast, they began to back away.

" _NO!_ " Came an accented outcry from high, high above. "Even if they are not slaves, we have half our mission to complete, nestmates! We _must_ complete it!"

The next seconds played out almost in slow-motion.

I whipped my head up to see a huge, imposing dragon of an unknown species far above. Our eyes locked, and he let loose magic-enhanced fire upon us. It was so bright and hot that it looked like a white whirlwind.

Even though it didn't make direct contact, it _burned._ I couldn't hold back a pained and horrified cry as it seared through my scales and its heat thrust me backwards, tumbling through the air at such dizzying speeds that I couldn't right myself.

Explosions boomed above, ringing in my ears. Fire, fire was everywhere, like I'd been caught in the very sphere of soul-fire we had used on the Queen. Dragons screamed in pain, and the humans below yelled in horror.

The stabilizing weight on my back disappeared. Hiccup cried out to me.

" _Hiccup!_ " I screamed, throwing my paws and wings out in desperation to right myself. I spun as wildly and unpredictably as a leaf in a storm, helpless and useless. I couldn't see him! I didn't know where he was!

Claws wrapped around me. The world lurched to a stop so suddenly that my stomach churned and my vision distorted.

"We're so sorry!" The intruder whom had caught me almost sobbed. "Please, forgive us for this! We didn't know, we—we have to do this!"

"Release me!" I snarled, wrenching in their grasp. They let go before I could bite them, and I fell a short distance to the top of a wood-cave. Throwing my head up, I searched wildly in all directions and shrieked, " _Hiccup!_ "

The air was full of battling dragons—our nestmates trying to keep the intruders out, and the intruders desperate to get through them. If the battle had been vicious before, it was _sinister_ now. Each group was more and more desperate, and blood rained from the sky just as steadily as embers and flame.

There was too much activity, too much fire! I couldn't see him!

Where was he?!

" _Toothless!_ "

I whipped around and around in a panic, wings flapping and tail whipping about—and then I caught sight of him.

Hiccup was gliding directly in the center of the clash above, opening and closing his wings to avoid dragons and fire. He was stuck up there, caught in updraft after updraft with no other choice than to ride them or let himself fall hundreds of feet below. The heat from all the fires was so intense that with each passing second his wings were open, he was lifted further up.

His eyes met mine and flooded with relief. I opened my wings and crouched. If I leapt hard enough, I could possibly make it up there—at least close enough to get him to safety.

Hiccup already knew what I planned. Without breaking eye contact, he twisted towards me, closed his wings to his sides, and let himself plummet like a woodclaw. I threw myself up towards him, flapping for all I was worth and begging the artificial tailtip-fin to let me climb just a littlebit more before failing!

Hiccup reached his paws out to me, his eyes glimmering with desperation. I did the same, ready to grab him in my claws and pull him to me.

Our paws met. I wrapped my claws around his forearms. My own relief reflected in Hiccup's eyes.

A thundering force toppled into me, wrenching him away and flinging me backwards.

"No!" I slammed into the ground so hard that my breath was knocked out of me, but it didn't stop me from throwing myself to my feet. " _NO!_ "

" _TOOTHLESS!_ " Hiccup called in real, unbridled terror, his fledgling voice high-pitched and choked and _alone._

He was in the claws of the colorful dragon whom had questioned us before. And that colorful dragon was _fleeing_ , so fast that Hiccup's shriek was lost in the wind.

" _Pursue him!_ " I screamed to our nestmates, scrambling atop the highest wood-cave in sight.

Deep inside me, I reached for a magic that I had not wielded in moons, an unnatural magic that had been gifted to us by the gods. Its power coursed through my limbs, washing the pain away in a tidal wave, and I thrust myself into the air.

Soulfire filled me from the inside out, casting my scales in a brilliant blue glow.

With a terrified hiss, I took careful aim at the intruder and let the soul-magic consume me, sending a godly fire upon he who dared to take Hiccup away.

It exploded just above him, knocking him out of the sky. The intruder toppled, Hiccup clutched in his claws and fighting for his freedom even as they plummeted. Our nestmates lunged at the window of opportunity, launching to their King as fast as they could.

The colorful dragon and Hiccup disappeared.

Confused gasps echoed in my ears and froze my heart. Nestmates flew into each other, colliding midair in the space they were _supposed_ to have been in.

A phantom voice—the _colorful dragon's_ voice—commanded around us, " _RETREAT! The mission is complete!_ "

The intruders all turned and fled with a speed only possible through magic. Even in all the shock, it occurred to me that all of them must have been saving their magic for this very moment.

My body and heart turned to stone. This was planned. This was planned! This was what they wanted!

And they were _succeeding!_

I shrieked with horror and outrage, but I was already falling! I crashed, and the pain of the impact was secondary to the terror burning through me. I leaped upright, spitting soulfire after soulfire at the intruders as they turned tail and fled. With each reckless blast, the agony and twisting fear intensified.

"After them!" I screamed between great bouts of godly fire, my voice shrill and frantic. "They have Hiccup! _THEY HAVE HICCUP!_ "

The soulfire was turning on me now, now that I was using it with such abandon. With each passing moment Hiccup was taken further away, a little more of me was obliterated. Each agonizing burst of soulfire sent a sharp, stabbing claw into my heart. My vision began to darken. The glow became overwhelming and searing, like I'd swallowed the sun and was boiling away inside.

I kept going, even as my tongue and throat burned, even as the intruders darted away so rapidly that I was no longer hitting them, but throwing aimless soulfire into the empty sky.

Our nestmates had given chase, but they were too slow, too exhausted—they had not known to save their magic, not like the intruders had. The elders broke away in gray blurs, but the foreigners had already gotten enough of a lead on them.

I couldn't see. I couldn't breathe. Again and again I abused the soul-magic, firing recklessly into the darkness, seeking only to _hurt_ and _force_ what I wanted. I knew it would tear me apart, that it was precisely what the gods had warned me against, but I didn't care. Every inch of me was awash with pain, every scale felt as though it was melting, every blast of fire weaker than the last.

None of it was as painful as the thought of losing Hiccup.

I leapt blindly into the air and immediately fell, my body no longer able to to hold against the strain of the soul-magic. It was as if the gods themselves had swung their paws down on me, crashing me to the earth, where I lied crippled and _alone._

I tried again.

And again.

And again.

The fifth time, I couldn't even make it off the ground.

My limbs buckled. I collapsed.

I couldn't find the strength in my legs, couldn't _feel_ my legs even though I could dimly see their glow in my blackening vision. With the last of my power, I raised my neck and wheezed, sending a final streak of soulfire in the direction of the intruders. I could no longer see them or the sky or, worst of all, _Hiccup_.

The soulfire fizzled out barely a foot in front of me.

I more felt the glow leaving me than saw it, I was so blind. My heart ached like it'd been poisoned and was rotting from disease in a slow and tormenting death. My entire body rattled like I'd depleted every last ounce of my magic and was in the sharp descent to forever-sleep. My head pounded like the weight of a mountain was hammering down upon it.

Despite the heaviness holding me down with the force of the gods, I lifted my head and set blind eyes above.

" _HICCUP!_ " I wailed. " _Please, Hiccup!_ "

Everything was drifting away. I raked my claws into the dirt but found no purchase. Where _could_ I find it, with my brother gone? How could I _possibly_ grasp it when his light was choked away, when his love was smothered, when his warmth was chilled, when I was left empty and foolish and _alone?_

The strength to even hold my head up left me, and my chin smacked into the ground. I blinked blind eyes and _wept_ with helpless rage and terror and sorrow. My vision abandoned me, as did my hearing, as did the rest of my senses. The heat of soulfire dimmed and cooled into a lethal frigidity. I didn't care.

Hiccup was gone.

Hiccup was gone.

* * *

 **And thus ends the first arc.**

 **Here we go.**


	11. Maneō

**Don't worry, Chapter 11 will be posted this weekend!**

* * *

 _It was a long fall._

Their eyes blazed with defiance and contempt.

The word _failure_ boomed into reality. Failure, failure. It had all been for nothing—all careful preparations, all precautions, all of it, incinerated within flames, its ashes blown away in thin wisps in a gentle wind.

It _burned._ As ironic as it was, as _cruel_ as it was, it _burned_ as it happened, as everything fell apart, as the world shifted underfoot to hold up the weight of a terrible fate.

It seemed that They had a sense of gleeful irony, amongst other things.

 _It was a long fall._

Emptiness was always there, ravenously engulfing all joy that lifted the heart, all safety that sheltered, all love that brought warmth.

The skies were locked away now, raining that heavy, heavy, _heavy_ strength from above. Condemnation was to wallow beneath the cold, dark, crushing waters of the oceans.

The stars seemed brighter, the sun exceptionally searing—it was a taunt, a reminder of every moment of loss and _failure_ and losing something essential, something _vital_ , something that had been torn away and replaced.

Torn away on purpose _._ They took it on purpose. On purpose. _On purpose._

Rage and helplessness were all that were.

 _It was a long fall._

Obliterated as it all was, there was still something there, a fragile shell of what had been.

Memories twisted and churned, warping amongst themselves. The waters were merciless, the monsters living in its depths just as cruel as their domain. The dragons of the sky were no better, eager to _burn_ in scornful flames, just like before.

If only they _listened._

But there was no empathy or goodwill, but wrath and _fire._ The only certain way to stay safe, to stay _sane,_ was to mask it all under a blanket of safety. Tragedy would not deal a blindsiding strike again. Through these efforts, the creeping, stalking fear was kept just further out of reach.

And in that masking, a discovery was made.

 _It sang._


	12. Chapter 11

**Hello, everyone!**

 **As promised, here is Chapter 11! But first, I'd like to thank** **Tista2018, CrisDLZ, Nacktgranate, MisstyX0007, HawkTooth, ltWasn'tMe, Aquawyrm, Ashora, Flopy, Brave She-Elf, Cyeithen, markoatonc, Anonymous Noob the 2nd, Brenne, DevoutRelic, Enlil45, TheWhisperingWarrior, Varghul, CrisDLZ, NightShadow9558, SAI1, Elt-1080, Alexisminas, TheFuriousNightFury, dynanskenjin, Crysist, and all anonymous guest reviewers for your comments on Chapter 10 and Maneō! I'd also like to thank Crysist for your hard work betaing!**

 **Shout-out to everyone who seemed to have a hoot deciphering what Maneō was about! Don't worry, it'll make sense...later.**

 **I also have a random question: does anyone know how to prevent spacing from being deleted between words, likethis? I've noticed this happening more and more, even between words that I go back and manually space apart. If you know, I'd greatly appreciate a PM!**

 **As always, comments are always deeply appreciated. I hope you all have a great day!**

* * *

 **Chapter 11**

Astrid

A grizzly burn trailed a burning path from my spine down to my hips. My hair was burned and tangled, filling my nose with the acid reek of singed hair. My arms and legs were covered in scrapes. My whole body ached from a brief moment when a dragon had picked me up, lifted me a good couple feet into the air, and then dropped me when Hookfang leapt up to protect me. My ears were ringing, deafened by the explosions, and my eyes were burning from all the ash and smoke. Sweat pooled on my forehead from the intense heat, leaving me dizzy and dehydrated.

I pushed all of it aside.

"C'mon, girl," I croaked, shaking my dragon's limp head. "Stormfly! C'mon! We gotta…"

A wild coughing fit rattled my entire body. A hand grabbed my shoulder.

"Astrid," Fishlegs whimpered, his eyes watery. Ash coated his skin so thoroughly that he looked like he was made of it. "It's not safe here. We gotta get to cover."

"No," I said, slapping his hand away. "She's still breathing. I'm not leaving her—this is all my fault!"

Both statements were true. Stormfly's chest was barely rising up and down. It was hard to see, considering the massive burn wound coating her from neck to tail.

A dragon had shot a fireball at me at close range. Stormfly had leapt in front of it.

I wasn't going to abandon her here, leaving her to suffocate in all the smoke.

"Well, what're we gonna do?!" Snotlout shouted above the roar of the battle, keeping an eye out for more swooping dragons. "Where do we even go?! There's fire _everywhere!_ "

"Yeah, Astrid, this is really pushing it!" Ruffnut wheezed. "We can't help Stormfly if we all choke to death!"

I shook Stormfly again. Her head lolled back and forth.

Hookfang leaned down with a keening whine, nosing his friend. He was hurt, too; when Stormfly had collapsed, he had exploded in uncharacteristic fury—only to be chased off by the raiding dragons. He had returned scratched and burned, but still able to walk and fly.

The small Nightmare craned his neck upwards and let out a high-pitched wail.

There was so much smoke that all that could be seen was the occasional lightning-burst of dragons spewing flames.

I covered my mouth and nose with my arm as another coughing fit wracked my body, filling my vision with brilliant spots. The smoke from the fire was becoming too much, even for me. I had to think of something, and fast.

Hookfang nosed Stormfly with a keening whine. Then his eyes snapped wide open, and he whipped around to look over his shoulder.

"Duck!" I shouted, and everyone threw themselves to the ground to avoid the swooping dragon.

But there wasn't one.

A shrill squeak came in place of a snarl or the blaze of fire. I sat up and squinted into the smoke.

A small figure burst out of it, wing flapping wildly and little legs sprinting so fast they were a blur.

Noodles stopped just short of Hookfang with a loud squeak. He flapped his one wing a few times, spun in a tight circle, and then darted back the way he came. He stopped a few feet away, turned to us, and squeaked.

I looked at Fishlegs, who shrugged.

"Better than nothing," I groaned.

"C'mon, Hookfang!" Snotlout coughed, stumbling forward. Hookfang jerked towards him, eyes wide, and threw his head against Snotlout's chest. Snotlout paused, giving him a calming pet on the brow. "Hey, I know, man. It's rough." He pointed at Stormfly and said, "Pick 'er up, Hookie! C'mon, show everyone how buff you are!"

Hookfang looked between his friend and human with huge, unfocused eyes, his tail and head low.

"Hookfang, _c'mon!_ " Snotlout said. "Or I swear you're sleeping outside tonight!"

Hookfang couldn't understand any of us. It had been made _blatantly_ clear the _first_ time we had tried to get him to carry Stormfly to safety.

I pushed my arms underneath Stormfly's head and, with a pained heave, pulled and _pulled_ until I just barely managed to lift her up a few inches. Agony burned through my limbs from the strain, every wound lighting up like I'd just received it again. I gasped from the pain and shouted, " _Hookfang!_ Help!"

His eyes were blank. He stood there, shaking. After a good second of staring, he reared his head back.

With a yelp, Hookfang scrambled forward and nipped at Stormfly's scruff. He dragged her up onto his back, where she lay with limp, dangling limbs.

"Nadder is secured! Let's go!" Tuffnut shouted. He raced after Noodles, who was bouncing up and down impatiently and squawking.

Noodles waited for us to take a few steps closer, swiveled on his front paws, and bolted. He sunk into the black, swallowed by the smoke.

We followed the Terror through the smoke and fire as fast as we could. The sharp light reflected from his emerald scales like a neon beacon, bringing a hint of coolness to the inferno raging in every direction. Even though he was so short and scrawny, all of us still had trouble keeping up with him. More than once, the only sight of him was a flash of green among the red-hot embers and charcoal smoke.

The dragons screamed overhead. I saw a flash of purple and heard a boom, but getting Stormfly to safety was more important.

Then—

The temperature plunged, bringing a welcome chill across my skin. Undergrowth sprung up around us.

Noodles led us deeper into the forest, his tongue lolling from his mouth as he panted. Just ahead, a young voice cried out his name.

Realization hit me. I threw myself through the rest of the foliage and came to a halt as I burst into a small clearing.

Hookfang was right at my heels, shoving his way in. With a wheeze, he shouldered Stormfly off of his back and collapsed besides her.

I rushed to Stormfly as the others packed in. Sparing a quick glance over my shoulder, I heaved, "Are you two alright?"

Noodles had lead us to Gunvor and Hemming—Dogsbreath's children.

Gunvor was busy cuddling the one-winged Terror, but Hemming looked up at us with huge, tearful eyes.

"Y-yeah, but...but...d-did you see my Dad?" He sniffled, hugging his younger sister and Noodles like he was trying to shield them. Noodles nosed him, licking some dirt off of his cheek.

Fishlegs walked over to them and crouched down to get closer. "No," he said gently, "but I'm sure he's fine. Did Noodles take you here?"

The young boy nodded. "Y-yeah. He did last time, too."

"Good job, Noodles," Fishlegs murmured, giving the Terror a pat on the head. Noodles tilted his head and chirped.

A tense silence overcame us. Distant screams from dragons could still be heard, the glow of the fires still lighting the sky in an illusion of sunrise.

I hovered my hands over Stormfly. I had never felt so helpless and _stupid_ in my entire life. At least in the past, my problems had been because of my own mistakes. In a way, I felt like this _was_ my fault—but I knew that, more than anything, it was _nobody's_ fault but the raiding dragons.

And that just made it so much worse. I wanted to be furious at them, and yet even that was overtaken by the sheer shock and confusion of it all. Why had this happened? Why had this happened to _Stormfly?_ What had she _ever_ done to deserve this, when the worst things she ever did was be too naive and playful and trusting and disobedient?

I couldn't even do anything to help her, not with the entire village up in flames and all the dragons locked in battle overhead. All I could do was sit here and pray.

Stormfly needed _help_ , not hope.

After a few seconds, Ruffnut sat down next to me. She played with her hair, grimacing. "Well…if it makes you feel better, we don't know where Barf and Belch are."

"Yeah, he totally abandoned us!" Tuffnut piped up. "At least your dragon _stayed_ with you."

I turned to them.

"And look where that got her," I spat.

Both of them had the sense to look guilty. Fishlegs gave me a crestfallen look, and Snotlout cringed and rubbed his neck.

There was a loud, distinct shriek from Berk. The sky lit up like lightning between the leaves of the canopy, illuminating the forest floor like the sun. Then it lit up again, and again, and again.

Brilliant sunbursts exploded across the sky, so bright that it painted the world in black and white with each burst.

Hookfang whimpered. Noodles bolted on top of Hemming and tried to cover Gunvor with his wing, little fangs bared and eyes focused above. Stormfly's breath rattled as she struggled to breathe.

As quick as it had come, the powerful lighting died away. The sound of warring dragons and Vikings faded into a haunting, lonesome wail.

The following silence was heavy and thick, swallowing even the slightest whistle of wind between grass. It had a surreal, malevolent feel to it, like the quiet that falls over prey animals that know they're being watched.

The battle was over.

My heart ached with the thought that I was about to witness our first loss.

"Stormfly," I whispered, putting a hand on her neck to feel her weak pulse. I might as well have been screaming in the reverberating silence.

I was nudged by something warm and smooth.

Noodles blinked up at me and flapped his wing. He growled, swinging his tail and head around and running in a circle. I didn't react until he reared up and slapped my hand off Stormfly with a paw.

"Hey!" I shouted.

The Terror flinched away, cringing against the ground. He gazed up at me with wide eyes, tailtip flicking, and then seemed to collect his courage. He puffed up as big as he could, stomped in between Stormfly and me, and let out the loudest squeak he could.

Hookfang swung his tail around between us, as if the tiny Terror could do actual damage.

Then, with a pull of his tail, he yanked me backwards.

"Woah!" I yelped, tumbling head over foot.

"Hookfang!" Snotlout scolded. "Not cool, man! Not cool!"

Tuffnut decided that _now_ of all times was appropriate to ask, "Do Terrible Terrors give massages?"

"Really, Tuffnut?" Ruffnut groaned.

I clambered to my feet, trying to hide how difficult the movement was. Staring Noodles in the eyes, I commanded, "Noodles, down!"

Noodles had perched on Stormfly's neck. His eyes widened and he squeaked.

Hookfang leapt between us.

"Snotlout! Control your dragon!" I hissed. "The _least_ I can do is be at Stormfly's side!"

I approached the meek Nightmare. He seemed to have a hard time meeting my eye, but stayed where he was, head low and claws digging into the soil.

"Wait!"

Fishlegs scrambled in front of me right as I reached Hookfang, holding his hands up. I lifted my chin and glared up at him, but still waited for him to speak.

"Meatlug told me about this—well, I mean, she _tried_ to…I think…" Fishlegs grimaced. "It's actually surprisingly difficult to get some concepts across even with only half of a language barrier, but—"

"Get to the point!" I interrupted.

"Well, Noodles hasn't been battling, right?" Fishlegs said. "He's just been with Gunvor and Hemming here. So that means—"

Fishlegs didn't get to finish.

His explanation was drowned out by a deafening, suffering scream that was so loud that I felt it deep in my chest.

Stormfly was suddenly filled with dying life, writhing on the ground under Hookfang's claws. Between the panicked flailing of her wings and tail, I could spot Noodles still latched onto her.

What was he doing?!

"He's hurting her!" I gasped, forcing myself ahead. Fishlegs tried to grab me away, but I ducked underneath him and jumped right into the fray.

Hookfang was doing a _terrible_ job at snatching Noodles off of Stormfly; he seemed more focused on trying to get them to hold still instead of just leaning down and snatching him. I slipped around him and tried to leap for the damned Terror.

At the very same moment, Stormfly's powerful wing smacked into me and sent me flinging backwards. I hit the ground hard and couldn't hold back a pained scream.

"Astrid!" Ruffnut and Fishlegs cried, running towards me.

"Help _Stormfly!_ " I all but screeched at them.

"Everybody calm down!" Fishlegs shouted, trying to block Ruffnut as she spun on her heel and charged towards the dragons.

My heart was hammering so hard, it was painful. My head was pounding. She was dying, she was being tortured to death, and I was completely _useless_ and nobody was doing _anything!_

Rage filled my limbs with new strength. With a heave, I forced myself to my feet and swayed with dizziness.

Tuffnut tried to have a go at them, too, but this time it was Hookfang's swinging paw that knocked him away. Snotlout leapt on top of his dragon's muzzle, only to shout when he was shaken off and thrown into the forest.

Hookfang twisted around. His tail swung like a whip.

The impact against my chest was so forceful that my breath left me. I was thrown backwards, _again._ I rolled over, spots in my vision and ears ringing, and struggled to stand. _Again._

I couldn't.

I wheezed, shaking my head. I had never known true battle, the horrors of watching friends and family fall before your eyes.

This must be what it feels like—to be wounded and helpless, to see them die a slow and painful death while you remained in the living world. My chest burned and my eyes stung—but neither was because of the smoke.

I was watching her die, and before I could even thank her.

By some cruel turn of fate, it was the _exact_ moment that realization came upon me that Stormfly's screeches suddenly died down into nothing.

Hookfang backed up. A beat passed.

"No," I breathed. Adrenaline burst through me anew. Using a nearby tree for purchase, I pulled myself upright and took a dizzy, swaying step forward, staring at the motionless form of my dragon. " _No._ "

In the sudden stillness, I had a clear shot of Noodles. He was heaving on the ground next to Stormfly, his eyes half-lidded.

I ripped my axe from my belt and lurched forward until I was standing just above him.

"No!" Gunvor and Hemming both shrieked.

The Terror met my eyes and curled up, covering his head with his single wing.

 _Clang._

"Damn you," I whispered, falling to my knees besides my axe. "Why?"

I put my hand on Stormfly's chest, bracing myself for it to be still and cold. She was dead—she _had_ to be, after all that suffering she had just endured. She was dead, and it was all because she was trying to protect me, and I would never get to thank her and tell her how glad I was that I got to live with her, even for a short time—

The shock of feeling warmth and movement almost made me burst into relieved tears.

"W-what?!" I snapped my head up, breathless with hope.

Stormfly cracked an eye open, focused on me, and hummed a soft, whimpering purr.

" _Stormfly!_ " I cried, throwing myself at her and wrapping my arms around her head. "You—you stupid dragon! Don't you _ever_ scare me like that again!"

Stormfly wheezed. She dropped her head and closed her eyes, and her breathing deepened.

"That's what I was trying to tell you," Fishlegs said, stepping over and sitting down next to Stormfly with me. "Dragons can do some weird…healing thing…with their magic. Not just, uh, shapeshifting people."

"It's painful?" I murmured. "It _hurts_ them?"

"Apparently," Fishlegs sighed. "Meatlug could never get the details across. I was hoping I could ask Hiccup about it, but I always felt too awkward."

 _Hiccup._ Without even realizing it, my mind made connections I hadn't even known were missing.

If just _healing_ was that agonizing…how bad was shapeshifting? How _dangerous_ was it? Hiccup had stopped breathing for a long time after he was changed back, but I had always thought it had been the toll of the battle against the Queen dragon. Now I wondered...was it _really_ because of the transformation?

Suddenly I had a lot more insight on _why_ Hiccup was still not a dragon.

"Wait, hold on!" Snotlout shouted. "Can somebody please explain to me what the hell just happened? Hookie, what is your _deal?_ "

Hookfang was nestled down besides Stormfly, partially covering her with a wing. He tipped his head, eyes wide and innocent.

"Well, apparently Terrors _do_ give massages!" Tuffnut exclaimed. He ran over to Noodles, who had retreated back to a stunned Gunvor and Hemming. "My turn, my turn!"

Ruffnut sat down on my other side and poked Stormfly. "Well, if ya ask me, Noodles did a pretty shoddy job. Her scars look exactly the same."

"It was probably internal," Fishlegs said. "Her breathing is much more even now."

I frowned. "So she isn't out of the woods just yet."

"Hah! Nice joke, Astrid," Ruffnut laughed, punching me on the shoulder.

I flinched, resting a hand on Stormfly's neck. Her pulse was still fluttering, but not faint and almost gone like it had been earlier. Giving a soft sigh, I looked over at Noodles. The tiny thing was sitting straight up in front of his two charges, eyes locked on me and my axe.

With a pained grunt, I twisted around and faced him, keeping my axe behind me.

"Thank you, Noodles," I said. I leaned down low, almost hunching over in front of him. It was some formal dragon thing, something I had seen Hiccup do several times to his dragon friends. It was the only way for me to be sure that he would know how grateful I was.

Noodles' eyes doubled in size, his one wing flapping frantically a few times. He yipped and then returned the gesture.

When he rose, Noodles tugged at Hemming's pants. He yowled and darted off, back towards the village, and stopped just before he was out of sight.

"Oh, thank gods! Come on, Gunvor," Hemming told his little sister, taking her hand in his. "Noodles is taking us home."

"But what about the pretty dragon?" Gunvor whined.

"She'll be okay…for now," I said. "Go on. All of you." I turned to my friends. "Go make sure everyone's okay, and I'll stay here with Stormfly."

"We'll get a cart to get her back in the village," Fishlegs promised.

" _Ooor_ …Hookfang could just _carry_ her?" Snotlout drawled.

We all looked at Hookfang. He was curled up around Stormfly, dead asleep.

Snotlout grimaced. "Well, I guess we can just ask Hiccup to do something. I bet he can get the dragons to do that healing thing again."

"Then let's get to it!" Ruffnut said. Without another word, she darted off.

" _Hey!_ " Tuffnut exclaimed, chasing after his sister. "Wait for us!"

Everyone else followed suit. Without a bunch of people standing around, the forest around us opened up almost invitingly. The darkness and silence and frigid temperatures normally would have been uncomfortable—intimidating, even—but now I welcomed it with open arms.

I slumped next to my wounded dragon, resting my head in my hand and closing my eyes. Even after everything had settled, my heart was still beating painfully fast, and my chest was tight with anxiety.

Something was still wrong, I could just feel it.

Some amount of time passed. The gentle quiet seemed to press in on me, sending all of my thoughts wandering and dulling my senses.

However long we sat like that, I was broken out of it soon enough. There was the sound of wings flapping, a loud _thump_ , and then heavy vibrations zipping through the earth.

I snapped my head up just in time.

"Barf! Belch!" I gasped, scrambling to my feet.

Barf lowered his head and sniffed me, purring softly with half-lidded eyes. Belch stretched out to Stormfly and Hookfang, nosing both of them. Hookfang jolted to his feet with a loud shriek, but Stormfly didn't stir.

"Where _were_ you?" I demanded, trying not to sound too miffed. Plenty of burns and scrapes marring his hide told me enough, but a selfish part of me wished he had stayed with us.

Barf hummed, resting his head atop mine. With a surprising tenderness, he nudged me by my rump back in the direction of Berk and squawked.

I pressed my lips together. "I'm not leaving without Stormfly."

There was no recognition in his eyes, not like the kind I saw when I spoke to Meatlug or Toothless. He continued to purr soothingly, pushing me along. Then, without waiting for me to go, he lifted both of his heads and approached Stormfly.

Hookfang crouched low, wriggled his rump, and leapt up through the canopy into the skies. Barf and Belch extended his long wings, their tips brushing up through the branches.

I realized just a moment too late what he was doing—and that I was being left behind.

"Wait!" I shouted, stumbling forward.

The clearing filled with enormous wind gusts. Barf and Belch launched into the air, carrying Stormfly with them. Just before disappearing completely from sight, he looked down at me, roared one last time, and threw his head in the direction of Berk. He flared his wings and ducked out of sight, Hookfang following close behind.

The wind died down. I was left alone.

 **o.O.o**

The sun was finally, _finally_ rising by the time I stepped back into Berk.

To be honest, I was pretty mad at Barf and Belch for not taking me with him. The reasonable part of me knew it made sense, that I'd be useless and that I was needed in Berk. But he had _taken_ Stormfly, and now I didn't even know if she was alright.

I had to get over it—not that I had a choice. I had to trust that Stormfly was going to be fine, so that I could actually be useful and focused on the jobs that needed to be done.

Even after the battle, everything was chaos. Smoke still loomed overhead, casting an enormous shadow over the entirety of Berk. Fires were crackling, eating away at the houses and shops. Entire buildings were burned to their foundations, and great black scars marred the ground where dragons had sent their fire below.

The occasional spattering of blood was a firm reminder that this battle had taken casualties—the majority of them dragons. Several were limping along or outright lying in the streets. I noticed right away that even more of the dragons on the ground seemed too shaken to move, sitting statue-still and staring off into some unseen distance.

 _That_ was definitely weird—but it wasn't even the least of it. The biggest shock was to see people _helping_ them, rousing them and even offering food. Those who weren't with the dragons were running this way and that, frantic to find people they'd lost track of in the battle and to stop the fires that still burned away. The remaining dragons were actually helping out, smothering fires and lifting heavy pieces of wood and stone to free people trapped underneath. Some were positioned overhead, wheeling in the sky in preparation for a third strike.

I searched up there to see if I could spot Barf and Belch's huge wingspan among them. I hated letting Stormfly out of my sight like this, not knowing where she was. If nothing else, Hiccup would explain everything to me...I hoped.

Running through Berk, I was unsurprised to find that many villagers shared the same sentiment. More than once someone approached me, asked for an explanation, and then asked me to get Hiccup when I couldn't give one.

"Getting Hiccup" was the goal—if I could just _find_ him. I knew my parents were too sturdy to have been hurt in the battle, and so I went in search of the Chief's son. I needed to know that Stormfly was really going to be okay. Not to mention that knowing why we were attacked _twice_ in one night would be nice.

After several minutes of stumbling around Berk, I didn't find Hiccup—but I did wander into his father.

We noticed each other at the same time. He ran over to me, and I couldn't help but notice huge burn wounds all along his exposed skin. His beard was still smouldering, and half of his helmet was singed.

"Have you seen Hiccup?!" The Chief demanded. His expression hardened when I shook my head. "Alright. Help me find him, then. Where's your dragon? We could use her right now."

"She's hurt," I said. "Barf and Belch carried her off. When did you last see Hiccup?"

Shame and regret swam in his eyes before he collected himself. "Before the battle. I heard Toothless and saw him, but I can't find either of them anywhere."

The Chief's voice was rigid with shameless fear. I tried not to let my surprise show on my face.

"I'm sure he's fine," I tried to reassure him. "I mean, he's with _Toothless._ "

"That's what I'm worried about," the Chief growled. "Toothless was up _there_." He pointed into the sky, and his voice filled with frustration. "He was there right before the final charge, and he was right in the middle of it when the sky filled with fire."

That…was not good. I would question _how_ exactly Toothless had been flying later. "I-I'll bet they just ended up somewhere we haven't checked yet," I said.

The Chief shook his head. "I've been to the docks and over the western and southern sections of Berk. You search the north, and I'll do the east."

"Right, Chief." I straightened up even as my body screamed for rest.

He nodded once and took off. I wheeled around and sprinted north.

Town Hall was directly in front of me, half of the village already cramming into it. I ran through the streets as fast as I could, eyes flinging wildly up and down. Normally, the dragons would sit on top of the buildings...but there just _weren't_ buildings anymore. At least half were damaged in some shape or form. The dragons were stuck wandering around in the streets or sitting completely still.

Something about their eyes struck me. How lost they seemed.

I rounded a corner and stumbled to a halt. Then, finding my voice, I shouted, " _Hey!_ "

Meatlug turned around with a surprised grunt. I ran over to her and she met me halfway...with Barf and Belch right behind her. Nobody else was in the street—they seemed to have been resting for a moment in solitude.

The Gronckle sniffed me and growled, shaking her head. Barf and Belch rumbled and nosed me with both heads.

"Where did you take Stormfly?" I almost begged Barf and Belch. "Is she okay?!"

Barf and Belch didn't seem to understand much, glancing over at Meatlug.

She pressed her side against mine and even patted at me with her wing in a "there, there" manner. She nodded.

"Oh, thank Thor," I heaved, letting out a breath I'd been holding since the battle. Straightening up, I said, "Thank you. Do you know where Hiccup and Toothless are, too?"

Meatlug's expression dropped, the light in her eyes darkening. She drooped, wings hanging limp and ears pinned against her skull. With a moan, she twisted around and tromped back towards where she had been standing.

The sudden shift in mood sent fear plunging into my heart. I stood still, apprehensive and assuming the worst, until Barf nudged me forward.

"Wait," I said. "Can one of you bring the Chief, too?"

Barf and Belch looked at Meatlug. She seemed to harden, pulling herself together with a dignified snort.

With a simple nod, she opened her wings and took off. Barf and Belch watched her go and then gently pushed me ahead, giving me a good lick on the head.

He lead me further and further north, closer to the cliffs that jutted out over the ocean. As we walked, he kept one wing half-extended over me, like he was ready to leap to protect me at any given moment. He took great care to move any "dangerous" obstacles out of the way, even slowing us down by blocking me until some piece of flaming rubble had been properly tossed off to the side.

With each street we trekked through, a tight anxiety pulled at my chest. Meatlug wasn't cheery like Stormfly, and she seemed a bit overdramatic at times. But her reaction to my question could never mean anything good.

When we actually _left_ Berk, I took a deep breath and reminded myself that panicking would do no good. I braced myself.

We came along a grassy outcrop with a full view of the ocean. The sun was off to our right in the east, rising higher and higher into the sky and casting long shadows. To the west, the waters were still black as the night.

There was a huge plume of fog far off in the distance, rising high into the air like a storm cloud.

Just below it was a black figure lying on the cliff's edge.

"Toothless! Hiccup!" I shouted in relief, sprinting towards them. "Oh, thank Odin—I was starting to think you'd fallen in the ocean or something. Are you guys alright?"

Toothless didn't move a muscle. His eyes were half-lidded, staring unblinkingly north. His wings were drawn in and splayed on the ground. I couldn't see Hiccup, which meant he was lying underneath Toothless' wings. Still, Toothless' tail was curled around his body, blocking him from view.

He had a paw resting atop something made of leather and metal. I paused and squinted at it.

It...was a tailfin. A handmade one.

"Wow," I breathed. "So that's how you guys got up there. I was wondering how…"

I trailed off, staring in confusion at Toothless. He was being kind-of rude, not even bothering to lift his wing so I could see Hiccup. Hell, he wasn't even acknowledging me. For that matter, _Hiccup_ was being rude, too.

"Hiccup?" I called. I took a step forward and crouched down next to the unresponsive Toothless. "You...you okay?"

The Night Fury didn't move and Hiccup didn't respond. My relief was slapped away by that same anxiety and premonition that I had felt back in the forest.

"Toothless…" I said in a slow, careful voice. "This isn't funny. I need to talk to Hiccup."

His eye flicked towards me.

Toothless snapped upright and _howled_ , ripping his wings open and filling my vision with them.

Hiccup was not at his side.

I gaped at the emptiness there, so unusual that I was half-convinced that it wasn't real. By the time I dragged my eyes over to him, Toothless had calmed down, hunched with drooping wings and a hanging head.

"But…" I stopped to collect my thoughts. "But… _how?_ Where is he?"

Toothless whined, high-pitched and shaking, and shook his head. He seemed to shrink half his size, folding in on himself and rattling like he had been grabbed and shaken around.

A dragon called out behind us. I turned around, and my heart dropped. Meatlug had brought the Chief here.

"Oh, thank Thor," he breathed. "Hiccup, I'm so, _so_ sorry, I—Hiccup?"

Just like I had, he checked underneath Toothless' wings and stiffened upon finding the emptiness there. He studied Toothless, the helpless and frightened way he was staring off into the north, his shoulders heaving under some unbearable weight.

"Toothless, where is Hiccup?" The Chief demanded.

Toothless shook his head, moaning in that hollow, helpless way that was so unlike him.

" _Where is Hiccup?!_ "

Toothless twisted to him, nose wrinkled and eyes slits. He raised his lip with a quivering hiss and suddenly stopped, clenching his eyes shut. He lifted his paw, shaking with the damning effort of it, and pointed north.

The Chief swayed where he stood. "No…you don't mean…no…"

I held a hand to my mouth, struggling to stay composed and calm as everything clicked into place.

The raiding dragons had taken Hiccup.

"I never…" the Chief choked. "I never even got to _apologize_ to him. He must hate me, and I never—" He stopped short, hanging his head. "Gods damn it. Gods _damn_ it!"

He spun towards Toothless, fists clenched and shaking. "Where were you?!" He cried. "I _told_ you to stay! You _know_ that he would have been safe there! You _know_ how dangerous it is for him! You _know_ those wings can only do so much!"

Toothless sat there and took it all with a hanging head, curling his tail in closer and pawing at Hiccup's tailfin. He was still looking out to sea, at that behemoth cloud of fog miles and miles away. With each furious accusation, he lowered his head more, his jaw tightened, and his wings crumpled closer in.

"How can you be so irresponsible?!" The Chief roared. "How can you let them _take him?!_ "

Toothless winced as if the words had struck him, squeezing his eyes shut with a soft whine.

I couldn't take it, seeing the defeated dragon King beaten further into the mud.

" _Stop it!_ " I interrupted, jumping in between the Chief and Toothless. "I know it's hard, but there's no point in throwing fingers! We have to do _something!_ " To Toothless, I asked, "The dragons, they're out looking for him, right?"

There was a short pause. Toothless nodded once, still refusing to meet our eyes, his focus still locked on the horizon.

"Then they'll find where they went, right?" I pressed.

No response. His expression was so torn and lost and confused that I almost put a hand on his neck to comfort him.

The Chief stewed there, clearly still furious but calmer now. He squeezed the bridge of his nose between two fingers and sighed. "Astrid's right," he ground out. "I shouldn't be taking this out on you, Toothless. I'm sorry."

For a second, it was almost as if Toothless didn't hear him. He blinked once and peered up at the Chief.

"There's no more time to waste feeling sorry. We'll prepare ships at once," The Chief said, completely in control now. "If the dragons return without him, they can at least lead us to him."

"W-what about Berk?" I asked. "What if the dragons come back? Or the Bog Burglars?"

The Chief stared into me with such fury that I shrunk away. His voice dripped with poison, "Then we will fight them. I am _not_ losing my son again."

Toothless finally lifted his head, setting the Chief with a sullen look.

With a heave, he struggled to his feet—only to fall limp right there, slamming into the ground with a pained yelp. Meatlug and Barf and Belch scrambled towards him. Toothless growled at them, and they skidded to a stop and whined. It took a second growl for them to slink away.

"Toothless…" I murmured. In sudden anger, I said, "What the _hell?!_ "

He glared at me, and I returned it.

"What's gotten into you?! Aren't you the one who always jumps into action right away?" I said. "If you need help, then _let_ us help you! You're not doing Hiccup any favors sitting here too hurt to move!"

He bared his teeth and hissed.

"She has a point," the Chief said. He hesitated, and then rested a gentle hand on Toothless' forehead. "I'm sorry, Toothless. But we need to move. We need _you_ to get Hiccup back."

Toothless froze. He sat there, shaking, and blinked wide-eyed at the Chief.

He shook the Chief's hand off and tried to get back up again. Meatlug and Barf and Belch crept closer. This time, he let them support him.

The small act left him fighting for breath, his nose almost pressed to the dirt. He took a step forward and gave a sharp yelp, ducking his head and gritting his teeth. It was clearly agonizing for him, but he took another slow step, followed by another, and another...

I kept a close eye on Toothless, taking in the glazed look in his eyes, the delayed way he moved his legs, how he let his wings and tail drag limp after him. Each movement seemed to cause him a deep pain.

I would have expected him of all dragons to leap off the cliff and fly off, or at least try to. It was so weird for him to have just been _sitting_ there, staring out at sea, refusing help.

I had a feeling that whatever was hurting him, it wasn't the _real_ problem.

There was no point in asking him or mulling it over. We were doing what we could, and that would have to be enough. We trekked further into the burning devastation of Berk as the fires _finally_ began to calm down.

Behind us, the fog plume rose higher and higher still, casting a dark shadow upon the ocean below it.

 **o.O.o**

Hiccup

I screamed for Toothless until my voice left me, leaving my throat raw and burning.

The colorful dragon held onto me so tightly that it was hard to breathe. He had been there the night the black Two-Walker had snatched me—and he had learned from her mistakes. He positioned me so that my arms and wings were clutched against my chest and my torso and legs dangled, making it impossible for me to bite or even struggle.

I hung limp in his claws, nauseous and shaking and gasping as the sharp, freezing wind stung at my eyes. We were moving so fast that the intruders must have been using magic. Not even the elders on Berk would be able to catch up at this rate.

" _Toothless_ ," I croaked into the empty air. " _Please…_ "

I refused to let tears come to my eyes. I refused to let myself give in again. This wouldn't be like last time.

I wasn't going to do that to Toothless. Or…or even to Dad.

The memory of our last conversation was like a sore, flaring up with burning pain every time it was disturbed. I swallowed heavily as it burned through my mind's eye, each word as crisp and detailed as if it had just happened.

 _Because you're not a dragon anymore, son!_

Once again, I focused on the empty shell of my magic.

 _Don't give up_ , I told myself. It was stupid, pointless advice. As cowardly and selfish as it was, there was still a part of me that wanted to, a phantom shadow that stalked at the corners of my mind and cackled at my every mistake.

I couldn't. I _wouldn't._ Not again. Not again.

I had to move forward, just as the Dragon of the Sun and Dragoness of the Moon had told me.

But…wasn't I? Dad thought I was moving backwards—that much had been made _crystal_ clear. Was he wrong? Or was _I_ wrong? How could I even know?

On the surface level, it sounded like it was the simple matter of _what_ I was—but we all knew that wasn't _really_ it. This was deeper, this was a matter much more personal than just the presence of wings and scales or fur and skin. I felt so incomplete allthe time—except when I was flying or speaking with Toothless. What did that mean? What did that make _me_ , in this human body?

It was all too confusing, roiling around in my head and making the world spin. The bumpy ride wasn't helping much either, making me all the more nauseated.

I closed my eyes and tried to block the sound of the wind and dragons. _Focus, Hiccup._

The first thing I had to do was escape, not dangle here having an existential crisis. Then, after that, I would deal with…with…

I sighed.

With everything, I guess.

But if I ever wanted to do that, I would have to escape first. I needed a plan.

This time, I would make absolutely sure that I wouldn't cause my own death if it failed. For Toothless. For our nestmates.

…and for Dad.

 **o.O.o**

There was a huge plume of fog ahead.

The intruders were oddly wary of it, speaking to each other in worried, hushed tones. The colorful dragon was leading them, giving me a full view of it.

We were miles and miles and _miles_ away from it, yet it still reached up into the heavens like a giant mountain, dancing and twirling away. I caught the scent of thunderstorms in the air, and the temperature was dropping in sudden, sharp spurts. Even at its distance, I could feel thunder rumbling and vibrating my bones. A cold front?

Whatever it was, the colorful dragon didn't want anything to do with it. He spoke, and what I caught in his short announcement was that he was telling them not to worry. He asked for agreement, and when the intruders cried out in understanding, he gave a leading call. Tucking his wings in, he swooped sharp to the east and perpendicular to the fog.

I almost asked him what it was and stopped myself. I had to be quiet.

We had skirted past several islands now. In my mind's eye, I knew exactly where we were. For all the pain and suffering my time under the Queen had given me, it at least gave me a good idea of the topography of the archipelago. We were north of the Queen's nest, far too close for comfort. Many islands we had passed were uninhabited—but many more housed Viking tribes.

Even this far out, I could see ships sailing. Some north, some south. A thought crossed my mind to try and break free and _land_ on one of those ships—but then what? I'd just be captured again.

The intruders were nervous around the ships, too. They had all run out of their magic and were flying at a moderately-fast pace now, making sure to keep high enough in the air so that they could not be shot down.

With each mental calculation of how far from home I was, it became harder and harder to remain confident. Doubts lunged at me from all sides. _What will you do when you escape? How do you know you'll even escape? You can never get home by yourself! You'll never see Toothless again! What even_ are _you?_

My heart pounded. I clenched my eyes shut and hissed under my breath, " _It is fine._ "

On and on we flew, as the sun chased the darkness of night away.

By the time the dragons stopped on a small, rocky island, the sun was almost at its highest point and I was sore and exhausted. About half of the group kept going, shouting something down to the rest of us. A familiar-looking dragon lead them, but they were obstructed from view too quickly for me to try to figure out who they were.

The colorful dragon landed and set me down with surprising gentleness, humming and clucking. The moment I was free, I darted as far away from him as far as I could—which wasn't much, considering the island was tiny for a group this size. These dragons had really gone all-out; they'd attacked our nest with an equal force.

Now every single one of them was focused on me. Dragons of all shapes and sizes inched closer, heads tipped aside as they took in my scent.

I fought to look dignified, to gain control of my frantic breathing and to keep the fear out of my body language.

I needed Toothless.

The thought sent a sudden wave of despair through me. I crumpled up, ducking my head and looking away. What was I going to do? How would I get home without him? Did he even know I was still alive? What would—

 _Focus, Hiccup!_ I scolded myself again. _Feel sorry for yourself when you're back home!_

I pushed through the fear and made myself straighten up a little more. The movement sent pain searing through my injured arm. I hissed through clenched teeth.

The colorful dragon frowned at me with pity. He ducked his head once and muttered an apology, but for what, I didn't know.

They all began chirping questions in their staccato accents. Closer and closer they came. I scooted backwards until I was right on the edge of the beach, the ocean foam spraying at my back and soaking my clothes and hair. My skin crawled with the sensation of a hundred eyes on me, a hundred minds to convince, a hundred different ways that I could fail.

I had to stay calm. I had to stay calm. I had no clue what to do, but I did know one thing: if I just rolled over for them, submitting to them, then I would never be able to convince them to take me home.

The black Two-Walker that had grabbed me all those nights ago came too close, craning her neck inches away from my face with narrowed, suspicious eyes. Her teeth shone in the midday sun, and I caught a whiff of smoke on her breath—she was prepared to fire.

" _Away!_ " I warned, clawing at the air just in front of her nose. She leapt back, flapping her wings, and the surrounded dragons flinched away. I hunched over on my four paws and arched my back, covering most of my body with my wings and baring my teeth up at them. I could almost feel a phantom tail swaying back and forth, ears and side-frills pinned against my skull.

A staring contest commenced between me and the uncountable dragons—one that I had no hope of winning and very quickly lost, buried under their collective pressure. They looked to their leader for guidance, many now confused and agitated.

In their questions, I caught that paradox again, that word that was two things but also one.

Dragon? Human?

The black Two-Walker fluttered her wings and snorted indignantly, taking on an "I-told-you-so" tone of voice. That kind of disrespect would have normally made a dragon as old as the leader at least a little upset, but he shrugged it off like water.

He hushed his nestmates, pointed at me with his grayed muzzle, and asked me a simple question. Dragon? Human?

I almost wanted to burst into hysterical laughter and tears. Even _they_ couldn't tell.

All of the dragons had fallen silent, waiting for a response. Once again, the urge to shrink in their shadows, to curl up and pretend not to understand, was almost overwhelming.

Lifting myself higher, I met the leader's eyes. My throat was worn raw, but still I raised my voice, " _Why?_ "

The colorful dragon blinked in surprise. His nestmates began chattering. They were nervous now, confused and uncertain.

I studied their almost fearful expressions and asked louder, " _Why?_ "

With a snort, the leader closed the distance between us and bent his neck to sniff me. I stiffened and all but turned to stone, not twitching a muscle even as he nosed my wings.

He retreated, perplexed, and asked me the same question as before.

I kind-of had an idea of what he was saying…but _why_ was it so important to them?

At my confused silence, apprehension flickered in his eyes and shook his voice. He cleared his throat and snapped at his nestmates to get them to be quiet.

His next sentence was pronounced almost excruciatingly slow, even slower than Toothless spoke when he taught me words.

"… _Savior…?...what_ … _you…?_ "

This was followed immediately by: Dragon? Human?

They were _definitely_ asking what I thought they were. My shoulders drooped. I couldn't answer that, not even when I so desperately _needed_ to.

" _Why?_ " I asked again in an effort to dodge the question. "Why _all this?_ "

" _W-h-y?_ " The colorful dragon parroted back at me, drawing the word out thrice as long as I had. His eyes were wide, his tail flicking and wings fluttering.

" _Yes._ " I nodded and twisted around, pointing with my nose back south. " _Home!_ " I growled, baring my teeth at him and throwing as much resentment into the word as I could.

The leader's wings dropped, and he shook his head and muttered something in disbelief. The black Two-Walker piped up again, angry now, and their nestmates around them shuffled and whimpered in confusion.

They all began to talk amongst themselves. I could hardly make out anything more than their trepidation—but there was one word that stuck out to me, a word repeated many times by many dragons in fear and anger and disappointment.

 _Fledgling._

 _Oh, Dragon of the Sun_ , I groaned to myself.

They thought that I was a fledgling. I guess that sort-of explained the weird reactions.

I blinked. Hope sparked in my heart, giving the shadows there pause.

" _Home!_ " I cried in as desperate a voice I could manage. I pitched my voice higher and abandoned all but our basic vocabulary, crying to the mass of raiding dragons, " _Me want go home!_ "

The intruders began to clamor, hissing at each other and at their leader.

 _Fledgling!_ Many shouted. _Fledgling!_

The leader was gaping openmouthed at me. He shook his head and frowned, squinting down his nose and pawing at the ground.

" _Y-o-u!_ " He said. " _S-a-v-i-o-r?_ "

He paused to add a noticeable space between his words. In a slow, sluggish way—so slow the meaning was almost lost entirely—he ground out:

" _H-u-m-a-n?_ "

I flinched, and then tried to look confused. " _N-no!_ "

This was the breaking point for the intruding dragons. They gave shouts of horror, rearing up and flapping their wings, their eyes wide and guilty.

In all the chaos, the colorful dragon was the only one who retained a calm posture. He leaned down until he was nose-to-nose with me, his eyes inches away. They had a calculating glint to them, and in their reflection, I saw my own: nervous and frightened.

I didn't have to understand what he said next.

The strike was so unexpected that a scream ripped from my throat. I was pounded into the sand, the ocean washing over my ears and muffling the uproar filling the entire island. There was no use struggling, but I did anyways, trying to throw off the single paw he was pinning me with.

He stared down his muzzle at me and locked in on my prosthetic leg, which had been hidden from sight by my wings up until now.

" _H-u-m-a-n_ ," he growled. " _S-a-v-i-o-r._ "

" _No!_ " I shouted, writhing under his claws. " _Help! Please!_ "

His nestmates came to my aid, hissing at him and pleading with him. The word _fledgling_ sprung up more and more. The leader shook them all off, snorting in a disbelieving tone at each dragon's insistence that I was a helpless baby dragon.

He spent several seconds more studying me, hard eyes flicking over my body.

When he finally relented, I gasped a huge breath of air and sat up, my limbs weak and sluggish. The black Two-Walker stepped over and purred soothingly, cooing at me and giving me a quick lick on the cheek.

" _Home_ ," I gasped, still keeping up the act even though it was useless. " _Me go home. Please._ "

The leader gave a sad shake of his head. He even dipped his head in a half-bow. His nestmates gawked at him, shooting me incredulous looks.

" _S-o-r-r-y_ ," he said earnestly.

He met my gaze, and his expression steeled with determination.

"… _S-a-v-i-o-r._ "

 **o.O.o**

The leader chose to carry on despite his nestmates' disagreement.

Even though he had lost his temper on me earlier, he allowed me to be carried _on_ a dragon rather than in their claws, which was significantly less awful. I ended up on the back of a Flame-Skin. He was the same one that had been part of the group that had first tried to kidnap me, that night so long ago when the fledgling Hum-Wing went missing. After taking everything into account, they must have been scouts on that night.

Scouts sent specifically to find me.

With each passing second, anxiety send uncontrollable shudders through my body. This was real. They were taking me, and there was nothing I could do. Hope died inside me like a fire fizzling out in the rain, easily overcome.

" _Home_ ," I repeated endlessly, still going out of my way to talk like a fledgling. " _Me need go home. Please, me go home._ "

The Flame-Skin murmured apology after apology to me. He seemed conflicted and confused, much like the rest of his nestmates, but didn't even try to question his leader. Every attempt I made to sway him and convince him I was a fledgling was met with a saddened, yet resolute "sorry".

It was a long, frigid, horrible journey. After spending the entirety of the previous night awake, I was completely exhausted by the time the sun had begun to set.

I stared at the brilliant light on the western horizon, resting my head on the Flame-Skin's back and eyes half lidded.

I missed Toothless. I missed him so, so much.

I was incomplete without him at my side. Toothless was part of me, and I him. We were Kings together—and nothing alone. Without him, I was just some scrawny, one-legged… _thing_ that needed saving. Without him, I was stripped of all sense of security, of all comfort, of all warmth.

Without him, I was empty.

It was like the weight of the ocean, forcing me into submission. Every couple of seconds, I would slip away into unconsciousness under its pressure—only to wake up, suddenly alert, thinking the whole thing had been a bad dream.

Each reminder that we were separated was like a blade plunged into my gut, its hand giving it a cruel and slow twist to draw out the agony of it. In fleeting waking moments, my mind whirled through the past, tormenting me with should-have-done's and what-if's. What if I had opened my wings earlier? Later? Should I have stayed on the ground, as cowardly as it was? What if I had actually focused on the battle instead of my own problems?

This was all my fault. If I'd just…if I hadn't…if I'd instead…

...and now Toothless was _alone._ He was _alone_ and he didn't even know that I was still _alive_ and I knew that it was _shredding_ through his heart just as much as it was mine. This was the second time that I put him through this—and this time, I wasn't even home to fix everything.

This time, there was a big chance that Toothless wouldn't be there.

He would never forgive himself.

I curled up, hands curled into fists and jaw clenched. The thought of the pain Toothless would go through if I was gone was too unbearable to dwell on.

I had to make this right, to find hope. I couldn't give up.

More than anything, I had to believe that we were going to see each other again. Our last memories of each other would _not_ be the terror and agony of being stolen, the sudden, ripping pain of being separated for no reason.

Despite all the pain and weariness seeping through my limbs, I forced myself to sit up and face towards the north. Even now, the sunset to my left drew my eye like moths fluttering around a torch. I turned my head and stared into the dying rays of light.

Was Toothless watching this same sunset?

It was a comforting thought, that we could still share something even like this.

We journeyed on into the thick blanket of the night. The fog at our tails dissipated from sight and, eventually, I lost my way. The islands and the ships sailing between them became unfamiliar, and the darkness closed in like a thick, swooping wave, swallowing us into its midst and leaving no trace behind.


	13. Chapter 12

**Hello, everyone!**

 **It's been a crazy two weeks for me. School is hard. But you know what isn't hard? Thanking reviewers!**

 **So, a big shout-out to** **Samateus-Taal, Anonymous Noob the 2nd, Elt-1080, TheWhisperingWarrior, Surprise Crayfish, MisstyX0007, Flopy, NightShadow9558, Varghul, SAI1, Alexisminas, Crysist, and all anonymous reviewers who took the time to write their thoughts! Seriously guys, I appreciate it a ton! Also, big thanks to my beta Crysist for your help on this!**

 **The next update might be slightly delayed due to my having an exam the following week. Check out my profile for updates on that!**

 **As always, reviews are always welcomed! I hope you have a great day!**

* * *

 **Chapter 12**

Hiccup

We were nearing the nest.

It was heart-stoppingly bigger than the Queen's—at least twice in size. Its entire surface was coated in slick, frozen spines, so smooth and perfectly-shaped that I boggled at the sight. They seemed to snatch the moonlight from the sky, glowing like brilliant, dangerous beacons against the inky-black ocean. Drafts of frigid air blasted us as we neared it.

There was _something_ coming from it. It was like a reverberating hum, but it was so low that I more felt it in my chest than heard it. Somehow, it was incredibly familiar.

" _It is fine_ ," I whispered to myself, my claws clenching around the Flame-Skin's spines. " _It is fine._ "

The nest loomed overhead, reaching up into the sky like an armored mountain. The dragons swooped around its spines and ducked into the gaps between them, deep into passageways concealed from the outside. I had a moment to brace before the Flame-Skin did the same, tucking his wings in and diving.

A blast of bitter cold swept over me. Darkness rushed past. The foreigners' voices echoed with greetings and "we're back"s and, strangely enough, cautious warnings.

And then, warmth.

We burst out into an inner cavern so suddenly that I nearly lost my grip. The ice above reflected the moonlight in a ghostly glow, providing dim illumination. A faint fog hung about, shining in the light in an otherworldly manner. It was condensed near the bottom of the cavern, where I could see a bubbling pool of water amidst the fog—a hot spring. Plants were creeping along every non-ice surface, and in the center of the cavern rose a giant pillar that reached the tops of the ice spines like a claw tearing at them.

The hum became louder—a heavy, steady rumble that vibrated just loud enough for me to hear and feel it.

Dragon eyes glowed brilliantly in the shadows, huddled together in little clusters. They almost looked like a dim spattering of stars. Seeing how few there were, I was reminded of the many nights of my childhood spent huddling and shivering close to a campfire on a forced "learn how to be a Viking" trip. I would stare up at where the stars _should_ have been, but the light from the fires had always been too strong, swallowing the stars up in its brilliant light and leaving only a few of the lucky ones to stay in the black above. When I was a little kid, it had scared me to see the sky suddenly empty.

Dad had always been there, that lifetime ago.

We swooped around the claw pillar and landed on a grassy overhang, and the impact was enough to draw me out of my trip down memory lane. The Flame-Skin stooped, and I eagerly leapt off of him.

It was a rough landing. I grunted and shook it off, making sure to stay crouched on four paws. The thick, soft undergrowth brushed against my sides, all but concealing my body from sight.

" _Home!_ " I tried one last time, my voice hoarse from all my yelling earlier. " _Why? Why me here?_ "

The Flame-Skin hunched with guilt. He tried to nuzzle me like I was his own, but I was too tired and _anxious_ to tolerate the fake affection. The only dragons I _ever_ felt that close to were a staggering distance away.

I spat a short, high-strung hiss at him, lifting my claws. He paused, eyes half-lidded with sad acceptance, and drew away.

" _Aww_ ," a few observing dragons cooed. There was more chatter of fledglings.

I tried to keep my tension from showing in my face and body language. As a respected member of my nest and a King, it was definitely _annoying_ to be treated like a dumb baby. But even with the group's leader seeing through my poorly-strung lies, if I kept it up…

The dragon in question landed besides me. He gave a formal nod. " _S-a-v-i-o-r._ "

The Flame-Skin rolled his eyes and made a pressing comment about fledglings. He nodded at me and growled in exasperation.

The colorful dragon merely raised a brow at him and turned to me.

" _K-i-n-g_ ," he sounded out.

" _No_ ," I lied. "Please _listen. Me need go home. Nestmate need me._ "

He blinked at me in confusion and shook his head. Nodding for me to follow, he trotted down the grassy plateau that hung out over the hot spring.

I hesitated and stepped carefully after him. While I had done so many times in the past, walking on four legs was a lot harder than it needed to be with an injured front leg. It slowed me down much more than I was comfortable with, and the fastest pace I could manage was a slow crawl through. It didn't help that the foliage reached up over my head, making it harder to see where I was going.

I stopped next to where the leader had waited for me and popped my head up over a large fern. It shifted back over to cover my body, and in a fluster, I grabbed its stem and held it down under me. A muffled chuckle slipped from between his lips, and he quickly turned away and pretended that it wasn't him.

The beginnings of a growl rumbled in my chest. I shifted my eyes around. Literally _everything_ here was bigger than me—even the plants. It was not hard to feel like I really _was_ a fledgling, surrounded by adults much more capable than myself.

" _King_ ," the colorful dragon said again.

" _No me_ ," I grumbled, peering from side to side. By now, the entire nest had spotted me and was focused on me. All that could be heard was the ever-constant rumbling from the hot spring.

Something was...wrong. The inside of this nest was enormous, and yet the whole group of dragons were dwarfed by it. I leaned over the edge of the cliff to see if maybe the rest of them were taking a swim...or something.

The hot spring erupted.

I yelped and reared away. The water exploded past me in a great burst. The colorful dragon snagged me by the scruff and dragged me back, apologizing as he went.

Warm rain spattered around us. The fog shifted around something—something huge and imposing and _loud_.

Two tusks emerged from the fog. Then radiant blue eyes—almost glowing in the moonlight, deep and old, wise and stern. And then...

My heart stopped. I froze where I was, suddenly incapable of moving.

The dragon was twice the size of the Queen, looming overhead and casting us in soft shade. His scales were white with age, but some graying showed that he used to have black scales. His entire head filled the cavern, his crown of spines brushing up against the ice.

" _King_ ," the colorful dragon repeated. He bowed, but in a weird way. He placed one paw straight in front of himself, pressed his forehead into the ground, and flared his wings as far up as possible. His few nestmates all did the same.

I stood there, crouched almost in a battle stance, and refused to lower my eyes. I would not bow to him. Not after everything his nestmates had done.

Not when he reminded me so much of the Queen.

I struggled to keep my breathing under control and my attention _here_ , in the present. The shadow clawed through my thoughts, filling my mind with memories of the last time I had been in this position. Of the Queen's victorious grin, of her fake "soothing" voice, of the heat searing through my paws...

Toothless had been at my side then.

The King's eyes settled on mine, and I couldn't help but press a little closer to the small canopy around me. The fern slid out from under my hand and threw darkness over me. I flinched.

Nothing happened. An abrupt silence made my ears ring. It took me a moment to notice—the rumbling, humming sound was gone.

The King spoke, but his voice was too big, too deep. It vibrated in my chest and just inside hearing range, exactly like the humming.

I shuddered, clenching my eyes shut. The Queen's eyes sprung up in my mind's eye, her shadow flaring and threatening to overtake me.

 _It's not real_ , I growled to myself. I opened my eyes and focused on the behemoth in front of me. _…I hope…_

The King's expression was hard to read. It was like seeing me was expected, but still a surprise to him. He shifted closer, speaking softer, eyes focused with lethal, pinpoint accuracy.

I didn't have fire.

I shrunk under the looming intensity of his gaze, the almost unnatural way he seemed to glow with power in the dim moonlight.

I didn't have wings.

Those eyes got closer and closer. He spoke again, and it was both almost impossible to hear and also booming against my eardrums, making the insides of my ears rattle. His voice alone was a physical force.

I couldn't escape from this.

Not from this King that was just as intimidating as the Queen had once been, that had been sending raids out just like the Queen once had. Not when it was getting harder and harder to breathe, to see, to _think_ as the past blended with the present before my eyes and as my heart hammered painfully in my chest.

I took a deep breath, struggling to remain in-control, and tried to ground myself the only way I knew how: Toothless. Fear of another episode was already lurking in the corners of my mind, and I forced myself to ignore it, thinking of Toothless instead and pretending that he was here next to me.

I had to stay calm. I had to stay calm.

The King's stern frown softened and he backed off. His crown of frills twitched around. Then he tilted his head, letting one of his house-sized tusks rest just next to me.

I stepped away from it, back arched. He could so much as sneeze and accidentally crush me to death.

The colorful dragon purred reassuringly. Before I could send him a look, he bent down, nipped at one of my hands, and set it on the King's tusk.

I stared up at the King, and he stared back.

It hit me first deep in my bones, making me quiver uncontrollably.

Then I noticed it.

It was _something_ else, something _foreign_ and _unwelcome_ invading my thoughts. It crept just outside my empty shell of magic, the only place that I could notice it, and found its place there.

 _Greetings, Savior_ , the King said.

The nest set aflame.

A horrified shriek ripped from my throat. I lurched away as the Queen loomed in closer. She hushed and cooed at me, her voice full of false sympathy and her eyes warm and inviting. Yet the stones beneath me were searing-hot, burning through my paws and leaving black scorches wherever they made contact.

" _No!_ " I hissed, writhing on the ground and clawing at my head. It was too hot—I couldn't breathe!

Not again! Not here!

My body burned with sharp spikes of terror, and the shadow of the past seized the opportunity. It lunged at my magic, gnawing away at it like a starving animal, destroying the link Toothless and I shared. I was blinded by it all, choking in the inferno.

 _It's not real!_ I snarled at it, almost begging it to just leave me _alone_. _It's not—_

She was dragging me down—she was alive, she was taking me away again, she was going to turn me into a _monster_ again! I was drowning, but not in the cold ocean underneath a sky aflame with soulfire, but in the dark fires she had planted through my mind, sucking me away—!

Blood dripped from my fangs and claws, and I met my father's eye amidst the battle. Something else seized control of my body, forcing me to flinch away. He drew his sword and charged me, and the fires only intensified, burning through my flesh, burning through my mind!

I was going to die—I was going to wither away into nothing, into a monster.

I scrambled for purchase, but the shadow had curled around me like a constrictor, clenching so tight that it felt my ribs were caving in. I choked in the burning air as the smog filled my lungs.

A wave of frost rushed over me in a gale, sucking the heat away in an instant.

"…not real…" I whispered.

I wracked with violent, heaving shakes as a cold sweat burst across my skin. My heart burned, making every shallow and frantic breath sting more than the last. I stared wide-eyed into the glowing fog of the nest. My entire body suddenly felt foreign, controlled by something else, not _me._ It was like I'd suddenly become as heavy as the Queen, crumbling under my own weight. There was nothing I could do, nothing I could control.

I was completely helpless.

" _T-Toothless_ ," I tried to remind myself in a small, thin voice, curling up into a ball and clawing at my hair.

A shocked silence had befallen the nest, one nobody dared to break. I huddled there, rattling and sucking in huge gasps of air like I was about to dip underwater and fill my lungs with stinging brine and saltwater.

It felt like hours of had passed before a dragon nosed me, asking frightened breathless questions.

I didn't move. It was like my arms and legs had been pinned down at every joint, locking me in place.

With gentle tugs, the colorful dragon pulled my arms away and craned his neck to look at me. His eyes were huge, baffled, terrified. In a shaking voice, he asked me questions that I didn't bother to try understanding.

Behind him, the King had retreated far back, his eyes shining with clear surprise but his jaw locked. He frowned as he studied me.

I didn't have the energy to feel nervous or threatened anymore.

He murmured something to his nestmates. The dragons did not cry out in understanding as our nestmates would, but instead gave sharp, military-like chirps. They echoed in their hollow, empty nest.

The King dropped back down into the depths of the hot spring. Moments later, the humming returned.

The colorful dragon settled down at my side, babbling in concern and confusion. He chirped at the dragons behind him and curled his long neck around me like he would around his own fledgling. The ground vibrated and shifted as more and more dragons huddled closer, each with the same confused and pitied look in their eyes. Many still murmured soft comforts, the word _fledgling_ appearing every now and then.

The entire nest lied down around us. Although it was still surprisingly small, it was still more than I'd ever seen huddled together in one spot. Their entire invading force—their entire _nest_ , I realized—were all here, trying to offer comfort.

I wanted to push them all away—to snarl at them for acting concerned, like this was some unavoidable problem, or an accident, or that they were worried for me. _Toothless_ would be worried for me. _Toothless_ would know what to do, he would find a way to make me laugh and cheer me up, he would validate my fears and work through them with me, he would reassure me that I was safe with him. He would knock some sense into me when I convinced myself I was a total screw-up, that I had just messed everything up for good. Because I had needlessly freaked out _again_ ,and that nothing I could ever do would keep it from happening.

But Toothless wasn't here.

Here in this foreign and ethereal and thrumming nest, I was surrounded by more dragons than I had ever been in my life.

I had never felt more alone.

 **o.O.o**

The weak light of sunrise was just peaking into the nest when I snapped awake.

I sat up with a start and whipped my head around. The ice glimmered soft pinks and oranges and the shadows of the nest were still deep emeralds and indigos. The nest was surprisingly warm, bringing comfort—and with it, sleep. Almost all of the dragons around me were asleep.

 _Almost_ all of them.

I turned to my left and nearly leapt out of my skin at seeing the colorful dragon wide awake, staring at me with pinpoint intensity.

Another dragon was curled up at his side, letting his tail wrap casually around him and his wing resting atop his back. He was huge and had a distinct frill surrounding his head. Even in the dim light, his orange scales seemed to glow like a beacon. He, too, was staring at me, although his eyes were soft and pitied.

He asked me a gentle question— _how do you feel?_ —and I bristled.

I recognized his voice.

The colorful dragon had no doubt been the leader of the raid. But _this_ dragon had been the one watching above, ready to leap to anyone's aid as I used to in the Queen's raids. _This_ dragon had been the one to shout a final order to his nestmates to push one last time to kidnap me.

 _This_ dragon had been the one to knock me off of Toothless with his fire.

The colorful dragon looked between the two of us with growing confusion—and then, with a small chirp, he seemed to put two and two together. He immediately stammered something, apologizing to me and using the word _Savior_ several times.

The orange dragon lifted a brow at him, narrowed his eyes, and hissed a half-hearted scolding. I caught the words _danger_ and _fledgling_ , followed by some not-so-gentle accusations.

I was too tired to try to piece everything together. Now that the scare of waking up had worn off, I was rapidly plummeting back into the exhaustion that had knocked me out in the first place.

I was so, so tired. That, more than anything, dominated my thoughts. It left the rest of me an empty shell, just as hollow and barely-there as the nest around me. I couldn't even feel _sad_ anymore, or embarrassed, or scared, or...or…

Dragoness of the Moon, what was even the point? How would I get home? _Would_ I get home?

I closed my eyes and forced a deep breath.

 _Stop it, Hiccup_ , I told myself.

I thought of Toothless. Of our nestmates. Of Dad.

I had to be strong. I had to find hope.

Something warm and smooth poked me in the forehead. I snapped my eyes open and flinched away from the colorful dragon, who had been trying to rouse me. The orange dragon didn't wait a moment to begin hissing at him, complaining of _fledgling_ and _need sleep_ and, among other things, _stupid!_

The colorful dragon rolled his eyes and snorted that I was most certainly _not_ a fledgling. The orange dragon scoffed.

I stared at them as they spat with each other like an elderly mated pair, both of them completely certain that they were right and throwing their heads at me every so often to "prove" a point.

" _Stop_ ," I said, my voice hoarse and faint.

Both of them jolted towards me.

" _Please…_ " I closed my eyes, almost couldn't open them again, and sighed. " _Tell me...why?_ "

The orange dragon had his head tipped almost completely to the side. The colorful dragon made some sort of snooty "I'll take this from here" comment, cleared his throat, and straightened upright.

" _L-o-o-k_ ," he drew out, pointing with his nose in the general direction of the nest. He drooped, and for the first time, his calm demeanor seemed to break. He lowered his head under the weight of something terrible, and the orange dragon instantly went from jabbing insults to purring comforts, nuzzling him.

I _had_ been looking. What I'd seen was an eerily-empty nest, an enormous cavern barely half-full. There was a kind of sad quiet about it even with everyone huddled together. It didn't help that the only sound was the soft bubbling of the hot spring and that ever-present humming coming from the King.

Something was still off, I knew.

" _You nest...small_ ," I finally said, dragging each sound out as clearly as I could.

The colorful dragon shook himself off and returned to his prim posture. He looked deep into my eyes, his own swarming with grief and regret, and gestured again at his nestmates.

" _Look_ ," he said again. He gave a short explanation, but I only caught the words _fledgling_ and _young._

The orange dragon lowered his eyes and frills. He pointed at me, and scolded again _fledgling_ and _danger_...and this time, he growled that he wanted to protect me.

My head was beginning to pound. I scanned over the nest for what felt like the hundredth time.

I went rigid as I finally understood _why_ I had noticed something off about this nest.

The orange dragon couldn't seem to bear it anymore. He drew his tail protectively around me, promising me that he would keep me safe, still absolutely certain that I was a fledgling in need of help.

The colorful dragon repeated his explanation one last time.

 _All of our young are gone._

 **o.O.o**

Toothless

The scouts had yet to return.

With every passing moment with no news, good or bad, my thoughts raced with possibilities. Against my will, horrible visions lunged into my consciousness. Hiccup being dropped into the ocean, abandoned to drown. His small, fragile skin ripped under claws and teeth and burned under blazing fire. Left alone on some desolate island, to spend his final starving days alone. His last memories of me those of battle, his last memories of his father a terrible argument.

I wept.

I might as well have been broken into shards. Hiccup was my brother. He was half of me, and he was the better half. Suddenly I felt insecure as King, stupid and naïve, foolish and prone to failure. Hiccup was always the kinder and more reasonable of us; now I feared that I would make a terrible mistake in his absence, that I was _already_ making terrible mistakes.

I was useless. Gods damn it, I was _useless._

The soulfire had taken a heavy toll on me, leaving me weakened and lethargic. Even after eating several healing-leaves, my strength was only just returning. I didn't need to be told that if I ever abused soul-magic again, that it would do much more than sap the energy from my body and fill me with pain.

I knew that the agony that sliced through me was not a consequence, but a _warning._ Soul-magic had a corrupting influence on those who misused it. The lesson had been learned, and yet no good had come of it.

I had no clue of what to do.

I never left the northern edge of the island, never let my eyes leave the blurred line where the ocean blended into the sky. The remainder of our nest still on Berk huddled at my sides, an eerie silence stretched between them.

There was nothing to see. For some time, an odd plume of fog had been visible. It had almost forced my attention to it, and for some time I had prayed that the elders would return from it with Hiccup. It had hung on the horizon for many hours after Astrid and the King had yelled some sense into me, only to fade away into the midafternoon heat.

My heart raced as the sun climbed higher and higher into the sky. I was getting more and more jittery, like any moment now I would have to leap into action.

I couldn't take it.

I raised my voice and shouted, "Nestmates! We must send another flare!"

Their eyes widened. They looked at each other.

One of the eldest present was the middle-aged Hum-Wing whom I had spoken to at the docks all those days ago. She took a few steps to my side.

"My King," she said, presenting a deep bow. "With all due respect, is it wise to send so many?"

I reared my head in shock. "Is finding Hiccup _unwise?_ "

"No, of course not," she said empathetically. "But all of the elders are gone, and a considerable number of our nest as well. We are at our weakest, with half our numbers present and all our elderly out at sea. A good number of our nestmates are wounded and unable to defend themselves, and are only made more vulnerable with each flare we set out."

She was right. Yet the alternative was to wait, as we had for _hours._

"We have to find him!" I said, my voice raising in pitch and volume. "We can't just sit here and do _nothing!_ "

She bowed once more. "I respect you too much to hold my tongue, my King. But it is ultimately your choice. If you believe I am wrong, then I will follow you."

"I'll go!" Cried the excitable young Nightmare, puffing up to make himself look bigger. "I don't mind!"

The Hum-Wing was making perfect sense. I knew that. Hell, she was making the very same points that _Hiccup_ would have likely noticed.

But…

"We _have_ to find Hiccup," I whispered, facing north.

The Hum-Wing pressed her side against mine to offer comfort. "We shall," she said. "If you believe it is in his best interest to send more flares, then I will not defy you, my King. I merely want to add more perspective."

"I know…I know…" I murmured, eyes flicking back and forth across the horizon. With a shake, I dipped my head to her and added, "Thank you." Twisting to our nestmates, I asked, "Are there any who feel comfortable leaving?"

Several raised their voices in bravado and determination. I nodded once.

There was a cacophony of roars, a heavy draft, and roughly twelve dragons launched from Berk and flew north.

The Hum-Wing remained at my side, her eyes glinting with a small amount of disappointment. "I pray to the Dragon of the Sun that we find him," she said. She looked over her shoulders, and I followed her gaze to the blackened scar that was Berk.

The humans were already hard at work, rebuilding wood-caves and clearing the debris. The King had been busy organizing it all and sending out floating-trees to hunt more, but still had found the time to approach me almost every other hour to ask for news.

"My King, perhaps you should check on our wounded?" The Hum-Wing suggested. "It would do them well to see you, I imagine."

She left out the obvious: that she thought it would do _me_ well to leave the cliffsides as well.

Guilt washed over me. As King, I shouldn't have to be _told_ such simple matters—I should just know.

 _Hiccup_ would have known.

"R-right," I said, forcing myself to my feet. "You're right. Thank you, Hum-Wing." I met her eyes and bowed to her again. "I appreciate your straightforwardness more than anything."

"Of course, my King," she said modestly, but could not hold back a proud grin. She gave a deep bow and faced north. "I shall keep watch for you. Rest assured, if anything happens, you will be the first to know."

I nodded and, for the first time that day, stepped away from the cliffs.

As I left, our nestmates began to murmur amongst themselves. They were worried—but not just for Hiccup.

I tried not to let it bother me.

 **o.O.o**

There were so many.

It was hard to keep track of all of the injured—in all the chaos, most had settled down in the first clear area they could find. It seemed that every corner I rounded presented me with yet another injured nestmate. I thanked every one of them, and bore through the agony of telling each one that Hiccup had _still_ not returned.

Yet the presence of our wounded in the human nest didn't fill me with unease. In fact…

I stood ramrod-straight in the middle of a burned pathway, my jaw hanging open at the sight before me.

Stormfly saw me first and cried out enthusiastically.

Noodles twisted around on his perch to face me. So did Astrid.

And so did "Dog's-Breath".

The injured Two-Walker was nestled just outside a tree-cave that had been spared of the fire. There was a considerable amount of debris, making walking over a lot more dangerous than necessary. I picked my way through twisted metal, splintering wood, and rough stone.

"Hi, King!" Stormfly wheezed. With a small whimper, she flapped her wings and forced herself to her feet.

"Stormfly, _no!_ " Astrid commanded, whipping around and holding her paws up. "You gotta stay down, girl. Stormfly, down!"

Stormfly purred at her and took several shaking steps towards me.

I eyed her unsteady gait and picked up the pace. "Stormfly, wait—"

" _Ah!_ " Stormfly suddenly squealed. She flinched, her ankle gave out, and she fell.

"Dog's-Breath" lunged in front of her, braced himself, and held her up by the shoulders. I rushed over to him, piercing my paws on the debris, and reared up to grab her scruff. Together, we set her down as gently as we could. Astrid crouched down next to Stormfly the moment she was settled, worrying over her wounds.

"Oh, Thor—thank you, both of you," Astrid said, paws fluttering over Stormfly to check on her. "She keeps acting like she's fine when she's not. It's everything I can do to keep her here at my house."

I nodded breathlessly. No matter how small, the sudden exertion had left me trembling and panting. I sat down at Astrid's side and licked the blood from my paws, trying to hide them before Stormfly could see. As I did so, I glanced at "Dog's-Breath" through the corner of my eye.

The human was also winded, although he was pretending not to be. He met my confused stare.

"There was nothin' to it," he said with gruff nonchalance, like he did this every day. Noodles leapt up onto his shoulder and he gave him an absentminded pat on the head.

I noticed right away that he was just as injured as every other human I'd seen. Burned, clawed, haggard. One of his eyes was swollen completely shut, and his fur was scorched so thoroughly on the same side that I doubted any would grow back.

Yet here he was, helping one of our nestmates.

 _Hiccup should be the one seeing this_ , I thought, my heart sinking with the realization. _He would be so happy._

 _Gods, I miss him._

"You shouldn't move!" The Little-Biter squeaked at Stormfly, drawing me from my thoughts. "I didn't use all my magic on you for you to get hurt again! It doesn't come back fast, you know!"

"I'm…fine!" Stormfly gasped. Groaning, she got her legs under her and sat upright, wincing with clear pain.

"Stormfly!" Astrid reprimanded.

"You are _not_ fine," I scolded. "I never thought I'd say this, but listen to Astrid. Try not to move, alright?"

Stormfly paused, tilting her head. She narrowed her eyes in deep thought. "…what's Astrid? And where's the other King?"

Noodles and I shared a sullen look.

"So can you answer my question?" "Dog's-Breath" asked Astrid somewhat impatiently.

She shook her head, shifting her attention to me. "I already told you, I don't know. Do you…" She stopped, and in a much gentler tone, asked, "How are things going?"

I swallowed, ears and wings drooping. Shaking my head, I hunched over.

"He's gone," I whispered. "He's still gone."

"What? _How?_ " Stormfly wailed.

"Dog's-Breath" narrowed his eyes. "Very well, then," he said. He faced me and squared his stance. "Night Fury. I've got a question to ask you, since Astrid here doesn't know."

I glanced at Noodles. He was calm and relaxed on the human's shoulder, leaning his head against his cheek in such a casual manner that I would have thought he'd known him for seasons. He was looking between us with confusion, but had enough manners _not_ to interrupt, unlike Stormfly.

"Dog's-Breath" had kept his promise.

Meeting the human's eyes, I nodded once.

"The Chief's son. Hiccup. He's been taken."

My breath rattled through my lungs. " _Obviously_ ," I hissed with a sneer.

He frowned, but didn't back down. "We needed that boy here," he said. "We needed him so that we could be safe."

"The dragons defended all of Berk," Astrid reminded him somewhat impatiently, clearly having explained this once already. She hugged Stormfly's muzzle in her paws. "They do it because they _want_ to."

I nodded in agreement with a snort.

"No," "Dog's-Breath" sighed. He groomed Noodles with his paw, and the tiny thing purred as loud as a Hum-Wing and leaned into him.

"We needed him for the people."

Astrid and I turned to each other, the both of us as worn as the other.

"So, Night Fury," the human went on, "can you take his place? Can you do for the other villagers, what Hiccup did for me?"

My jaw worked up and down.

Panic lunged from the shadows.

" _Stop it!_ " I cried, opening my wings. "Stop talking like he's gone forever!"

"Wait, my King!" Noodles yipped, caught between shying away and shielding his human with his wing.

"Woah! Woah!" Astrid leapt between me and the surprised "Dog's-Breath", holding her paws out to me. She met my eyes, paws inches from my teeth. "Easy, Toothless. Easy."

I heaved and closed my eyes, taking a moment to recompose myself.

When I cracked my eyelids open, Astrid was crouched at my eye level, brows drawn in with worry.

"It's okay," she said in an odd, gentle voice. She hesitated, and then placed a paw on my forehead. "We're gonna find him."

The warmth from her paw was something to focus on, to bring my thoughts together. A few seconds too late, I nodded.

"Toothless…" Astrid began. "Is something…is something _wrong?_ Are you still hurt?"

I pulled away from her, shaking my head. "I'm fine."

"No, you're not!" Stormfly squawked flippantly.

"Hush!" Noodles reprimanded.

"Dog's-Breath" gave a sad shake of his head, shoulders drooping. "So that's a 'no', then," he mumbled, surprisingly forlorn.

"No!" Astrid said. "No. He's just freaked out because he's scared for Hiccup. We just gotta get him back, and—and didn't you say there were dragons looking for him?" Astrid directed this at me. "Are they back yet?"

I shook my head.

"Well, then," "Dog's-Breath" huffed. "That's all I needed ta know. I hope yer dragon recovers, Astrid. And you, Night Fury…"

We stared into each other.

"I wish you a swift recovery as well," he eventually said.

Just like that, he spun on his foot and walked away.

"Um, farewell, my King!" Noodles called awkwardly from atop his human's head.

"Bye, nice Little-Biter!" Stormfly returned.

Astrid and I stood shoulder-to-shoulder. Her eyes were set forward, ahead—mine were still focused away, into the past.

"Okay, spill. What's _really_ wrong?"

I sent her a glare. "What do you _think?_ "

She crossed her paws across her chest and huffed. "You've been acting _weird_ , Toothless. And not just because Hiccup's gone. You haven't been yourself ever since I found you on that cliff this morning."

Irrational anger swept through me. "What do you know about me?" I growled.

Stormfly shrunk away, whimpering.

Astrid fearlessly reached out and put her paw on my forehead again. It was enough for me to get my senses straight.

I loosened my glare, looking away and slumping. Apparently, the toll of the soul-magic was much worse than even _I_ was willing to admit.

She rubbed my forehead with her paw for a moment. It was oddly calming, like a nestmate soothing another. Eventually, it was too much for me; her soft paws reminded me far too much of Hiccup. I twitched away and she dropped her paw.

"We're gonna find him," she said. "The Chief's already got people getting ships ready, and the rest of us are rebuilding Berk. We just gotta wait for the search parties to come back."

I took in a breath. She was right…about everything.

Whatever this… _problem_ was, I had to get over it. I had to step up and be a King—not a panicked, frightened fledgling crying out for his brother. For Hiccup's sake.

I straightened up to my feet and narrowed my eyes.

"We're going to bring him home," I snarled to the north, baring my teeth.

Astrid chuckled.

"Now _that's_ more like the Toothless I know."

 **o.O.o**

I saw him first.

He was running towards the northern edge of Berk, which was still occupied by a force of nestmates ready to launch at the first sign of invasion. He was coming from an easterly direction, where the docks were.

"King!" I hailed.

He skidded to a halt and whipped around, eyes wide. We met each other halfway. I was forced to sit down, my legs were so sore.

"Toothless," the King breathed. "I was just looking for you. Is there—"

I shook my head. The hope lighting his features was swept away.

He spared a moment, and then straightened with resolve. "Then we go without them."

"…We?" I repeated.

The King didn't catch the question in my tone, pacing in front of me just like Hiccup always did. "We know they're far in the north—from what Trader Johann told us, several days' worth of sailing." He reached to his side and pulled out a piece of paper, unraveling it and holding it at my eye level.

It was the drawing of all the islands that had been attacked that "Trader Johann" the human had used.

"If this is the first island that was attacked, where would the nest be?" The King demanded. "Do you know?"

I…didn't understand the drawing. It made the islands all look so close to each other, like they were small stones in a puddle.

"I don't," I said, shaking my head.

The King's eyes swam with fear and anxiety. "Then…we move forward regardless."

" _No._ " I threw my head with a snort. " _Need know where us need go. Stupid us fly no where know._ "

The King stared in confusion.

I cast my eyes down. Without even realizing it, I had spoken in our language with the expectation that Hiccup would be there to translate for me.

With a shaky breath, I lifted a claw and pawed at the dirt. I hadn't a clue how to _draw_ that. Most metaphorical concepts were extremely difficult for me to wrap my head around when trying to communicate like this. _Hiccup_ could do it in seconds whereas, with myself, it took deep concentration and thought.

I started with a circle. Then…paths…so, lines. Everywhere, representing all the different places we could go from Berk. At random, I picked the end of one line and added another circle.

I leaned back to let the King take it in. His eyes were wide with shock, mouth slightly parted.

"You…can draw?" He murmured.

"Hah," I chuckled humorlessly. "No. That would be Hiccup." I pointed with a claw at the first circle and then stomped on the ground several times. " _Berk._ " Then, touching the lines, I pointed the human way out to sea, waving my paw in a semicircle.

I put my paw on the second circle and paused.

With a trembling croon, I pressed my paw into it and then pulled it close to my heart. " _Hiccup._ "

The King watched this all with a worn look.

"…I don't know how Hiccup does it," he said after several moments of hard thought. "It's always amazed me how he can talk to you." He dropped his head in shame. "And I made him feel like he had to hide it from me."

I looked into him, frowning with pinned ears. Part of me wanted to make a derisive comment, maybe add some sting to the wounds just as he had done to me earlier.

…But what was the point?

He met my unyielding, stern stare and sighed.

"So…this," the King said, gesturing to my drawing. "What does it mean?"

I repeated the whole procedure of gestures, this time much slower. When the King shook his head in confusion afterwards, I couldn't hold back a frustrated snort, glaring off to the side.

The King was just as annoyed, holding his elbow in his paw and pinching the bridge between his eyes.

"Alright. Scratch that," he huffed. "Can you draw something else? Why shouldn't we sail? Does it have to do with the nest?"

"Ah…" I hummed, scrutinizing my drawing. All things considered, I felt that it did a fairly _good_ job at expressing what I wanted.

" _King!_ "

I bolted to my feet, wings wide open and ears straight up. The call had come from our nestmates on the cliffs.

The King and I shared a look and took off.

The time back to our nestmates was short; we'd already been close. Regardless, I was winded and out of breath by the time I stumbled back to our nestmates, having run so slow that the King had kept an easy pace with me. We were met with the sight of our nestmates standing with stiffened limbs, half-crouched and ready to spring.

There was a group of dragons approaching from the northwest. They seemed small in number—not nearly the size of the invading force from last night.

This far away, I couldn't tell who they were.

"Are they ours?" The King demanded. When I shrugged, a distinct _SHING_ screeched through the air as he drew his sword. The King turned back to Berk and boomed, "Dragons approaching! Catapults ready! Evacuate the wounded and children to Town Hall!"

The human nest burst into action, suddenly loud and full of frightened and angry shouts. In the midst of it, the nestmates within Berk's ranks called out, and those that could took wing and flew above the wood-caves.

Several minutes passed. Several minutes of waiting, feeling my heart thunder in my chest as fear and hope swirled seamlessly into each other. With each second I convinced myself that they were our nestmates—that they weren't—that they were—that they weren't.

I would not use soulfire. I wouldn't risk my normal magic, not unless there was a dire need. My fire had yet to return all the way.

If they struck, I would make a terrible King indeed.

They approached further. Our nestmates snarled, and I squared off and joined them, lashing my tail. The King braced himself at my side, sword raised and eyes ablaze.

Our only indication was the sound.

Hisses and growls faded away as dragons everywhere fell silent in bafflement. The King whipped his head around.

"Toothless?"

The singing dragons burst overhead.

They sounded…so empty. It was all the agony I felt of losing Hiccup put into breath, a physical form of an emotion. It was low and thrumming, reverberating through the air like a dragon several times their size was crying out in mourning. Each voice seemed to add something completely unique and yet exactly the same to those around them, forming a symphony of the same and all notes. It was full yet empty, it was loud yet soft, it was complicated yet simple.

I knew that song. Somewhere…I knew I had heard it…that it was important. That it was _familiar._

" _Hiccup_ ," I whispered, wide eyes locked above. I twisted my neck to follow them. " _Hiccup_..."

Our nestmates formed a wall midair. They met our ranks.

Unanswered snarls echoed above. The singing dragons simply banked away from the blockade to the east, taking their song with them.

I stumbled forward. " _Wait_... _Hiccup_ …."

Human paws wrapped around my head and yanked me backwards, inches away from the edge of the cliff.

" _Toothless!_ " The King scolded. "Careful!"

"W-what?!" I yelped. The song became cacophonous, the singing dragons meandering further away.

I snapped alert, flicking my eyes around. The King was there—he'd grabbed me—was _still_ holding me—several of our nestmates were crouching, wings opened—

" _Our nestmates!_ " I roared. "Do not follow!"

Those close to me halted, turning lethargically to look at me.

Those above did not.

I stared openmouthed as some nestmates defied a direct order, wheeling after the singing dragons.

But…but _why?_

"No! _"_ I commanded to them. " _Do not follow!_ "

Some paused, hovered for a few seconds, and twirled around back towards Berk.

Some remained on their path, even as the rest of our nestmates cried out to them. I took immediate notice that many of them were small and skinny—they were our younger nestmates, the more rebellious.

A Little-Biter gave a terrified screech. "The fledglings!"

I squinted and gasped, leaping upright.

Amongst our young, the tiny forms of several of our fledglings could just be spotted.

I approached the cliff, shaking my head in disbelieving horror. Surely they had heard me and their nestmates—surely they knew that to charge a group of that size was suicide?

"To defy a King—!" A nestmate to my left gasped.

"We have to get them!" Shouted another.

The singing dragons were already headed northeast, taking with them that familiar yet alien song. My ears twitched as I caught it on the wind, and I shook my head to clear my mind of it.

I glanced over what was left of our nest. There were so few of us left—half of us were out in search, and now a sizable portion of our young had broken off. Many of our nestmates still looked distant, eyes half-focused.

I realized what I had to do, and took a deep breath to ready myself.

"No," I said, my eyes never leaving the doomed fledglings. "No. We cannot."

The words ate away at me like poison, like I'd willingly allowed a viper to plunge its fangs into my flesh.

Our nestmates gaped at me. I swallowed heavily, wondering what Hiccup would do, what he would say.

I was letting them go. I was _abandoning_ them, if my weak grasp of the situation was correct.

A terrible King I was.

"B-but—my King!" Stammered the orange Hum-Wing from before. "They will surely be attacked once they are noticed, or drown!"

"No!" I snapped. "There's something… _wrong_ …about those dragons." I forced myself to look into her angry, disappointed scowl. "I'm sorry. But that is an order."

She reared her head back, eyes wide and hurt. She opened her wings and threw her head, jagged teeth snapping at the air. For a moment, I thought she would defy me.

I _hoped_ she would defy me, just as the elders had done back in the cove. They had deemed me unfit as King and defied me then, and it had been for the better.

But the elders were gone. Hiccup was gone.

With a soft growl, the Hum-Wing lowered reluctantly into a bow. "…yes, my King," she seethed.

Our nestmates repeated her, some more willing than others. I hung my head, filled with shame.

"I'm sorry," I whispered. "I can't lose anyone more..."

 _Please, Dragoness of the Moon, let them return_ , I prayed. _Please let them just be stupid and ambitious. Please let them return._

A paw brushed my shoulder. I lifted my head to the King and shook my head.

He didn't need to ask any more questions, even though his confusion and concern shone clear in his eyes.

We watched them go, calling out to them and praying, until they were tiny specks against a cloud of fog.

Our nestmates and fledglings did not return.

And neither did our scouts.


	14. Chapter 13

**Hello, everyone!**

 **I apologize about the delay. School has been rough, but I'm finally on break! Hopefully all of you are as well! C:**

 **I'd like to thank** **Siganna, TiGGs96, FyrandTheGryffinclaw, TheFuriousNightFury, veije, gaylord420, Flopy, Eonn, Varghul, NightShadow9558, Brenne, Nitroexpress, Nacktgranate, Alexisminas, Crysist, and all anonymous reviewers for leaving your reviews in these trying times. I'd also like to thank my beta Crysist for staying up to ungodly hours of the morning to hammer this chapter out in one go! YEAH LET'S SLEEP NOW.**

 **Anyways, this is a long one, so hopefully that makes up for the wait! I hope all of you enjoy this! Reviews are always immensely appreciated!**

 **Have a great day, and a happy Thanksgiving!**

* * *

 **Chapter 13**

Hiccup

The fish plopped in front of me. It was big enough to have been a sizable meal for _Toothless_ , no less something as tiny and puny as me.

" _Savior_ ," the colorful dragon said with a short bow. He nestled down next to me, head tipped aside. The sunbeams filtering in through the ice above painted opalescent, rainbow stripes across his scales in vivid contrast against the green foliage surrounding us.

I poked the fish, drooping. It was still cold and wet, freshly-caught. I'd watched him fish it out from the hot spring below, which apparently had food in it.

The sun had risen and been up for hours, but I still had no appetite. Even after falling asleep from exhaustion, I had still woken up feeling as though I were drifting along a still, empty ocean. It was everything I could do to wrap my head around what I had learned last night, and I could hardly do even _that._

A nearby dragon chirped something to the colorful one in a teasing tone. I caught the words " _fish_ " and " _fledgling_ "; it seemed that she was teasing him about offering such a huge meal to such a small "dragon".

The colorful dragon scoffed and re-adjusted his position to make himself even _more_ dainty. I hunched over.

After all, _that_ was the major problem keeping me from sleeping at night. My skin crawled with the sensation of being a fake, a liar—which, as much as I hated it, I _was_. These dragons believed my desperate lies, ones that I fought to be the truth.

It was only a matter of time until I was found out—and then what?

I squeezed my eyes shut and took in a deep breath. I needed to keep my strength up. For Toothless.

"… _thank you_ ," I sighed, grabbing the meal and holding it close to my mouth. I forced myself to take a bite.

Not a moment later, the colorful dragon leaned forward and helped himself to some, too.

I stopped mid-chew and blinked at him, kind-of offended. I mean, what was the point of giving me food if he was going to take some?

He mirrored my confused expression, nodding and encouraging me to have some more.

Very slowly, I swallowed and took another bite.

With a happy chirp, he went right at it for seconds.

" _Why?_ " I said, exasperated. " _Why you like this?_ "

" _Hm?_ " He asked, cocking his head. I groaned, throwing my head back.

The few dragons lounging close enough to hear chuckled, and the dragoness from before picked up her teasing again. The colorful dragon pretended not to notice, but for the umpteenth time, I took a moment to study their midsts.

The sunlight coming in was distorted in the ice and light fog, filling the cavern in a warm, golden glow. The dragons here equaled Berk's nest in size, but they were dwarfed both by their nest and their King. They all had room to huddle in the sunbeams that shone through the ice pillars above, when it was obvious that normally there would have been some competition for the good spots. What the colorful dragon and the orange dragon had told me last night was true: they really _were_ missing half of their nest...their young.

Something about that sent off alarms in my head.

Even worse than that was another, much more glaring red flag: none of the dragons were _leaving._ They milled about in their empty shell of a nest, some staring longingly upwards to the skies but none flitting through the jagged ice.

If the dragons who _lived_ here couldn't leave, that wasn't exactly good news for me. I had to get out of here, and fast.

There was just one problem keeping me from doing that.

The King was still in the giant spring below, resting with his nose and tusks just above the water. His body was relaxed like he was sleeping, but every time I had peeked over at him, his eyes were locked on me.

I risked a glance and shuddered. There was no way I would be able to slip out of here with him watching me like that. Not to mention that he wasn't the only one keeping a close eye on me.

The sun winked out. I flinched and threw myself down, my mind flashing back to that horrible night.

With a loud _THUMP_ , the orange dragon landed right next to us. He shot me a look that was supposed to be comforting, but still awkward enough for it to be clear that he'd never actually raised fledglings himself. I sat up somewhat bashfully, scolding myself for getting so worked up over a _shadow._

The orange dragon had been gone by the time I'd woken up; I'd never actually seen him standing upright. I was both surprised and unsurprised at how _enormous_ he was, towering up and up over me and the colorful dragon. Yet even _that_ wasn't his most impressive feature. I couldn't hold back a surprised yelp when he yawned and stretched out not one, but _two_ pairs of wings.

He and the colorful dragon bowed to each other, the colorful dragon much deeper and more respectful. They quickly rose...and immediately started up their bickering again.

I took another bite out of the fish as I watched them squabble with each other, not quite sure if I should interrupt this time. The four-winged dragon saw the movement, glanced at me, did a double take, and brightened.

He craned his neck closer and sniffed at the fish.

Through my memories, I heard him call out that final order—that final push that lead to my kidnapping. The colorful dragon had been the one to grab me, but even he had been following orders. I knew now it had been for, apparently, a very _dire_ reason...but that didn't make it any better.

That didn't make me trust him. Or _like_ him.

I narrowed my eyes just a bit and kept my paw resting on the fish, making it clear that I had not invited him to have some. "Sharing" with the colorful dragon was already pushing it...not that I really had a choice in the matter.

The four-winged dragon chuckled with a wry smile and gave me same space. He asked the colorful dragon something in an amused tone, once again using the words " _fledgling"_ and " _Savior"._

" _Yes!_ " The colorful dragon huffed. He gestured down towards the King and spoke with pride. He seemed to be saying that the King believed him—something _I_ had figured out right away.

The other dragons seemed much less convinced, raising an eyebrow at me in the most exaggerated way possible.

I glanced between the two. In another desperate act, I raised my voice higher and squeaked, " _Home!_ _Me no King and me no Savior. Me need go home! Mother and father very worried!_ "

The colorful dragon moaned in exasperation. The four-winged dragon squinted and snapped his head at a ninety-degree angle. I cringed and rubbed my neck.

" _What?_ " The four-winged dragon drew out.

The colorful dragon shrugged and said something in a nonchalant, casual tone, even throwing his head dismissively.

" _H-o-m-e_ ," I ground out in as desperate a voice as possible. " _M-e…n-e-e-d—"_

The four-winged dragon shushed me, putting his wing over me in a "there, there" gesture. He crooned at me in a baby voice, speaking slower and asking dramatic questions. Among all of it was promises of keeping me safe, of protecting me.

Even though that meant my horrible acting was somehow working, I was _seriously_ getting tired of that. I struggled to keep the annoyance out of my voice as I asked, " _Fly me home? Please? M-e…n-o…f-l-y._ "

The four-winged dragon shot the colorful one a smug look. The colorful dragon lifted his nose with a delicate snort, sitting with his tail wrapped nice and neat around his paws. Then, lifting his wing, the four-winged dragon leaned down until his jaw was inches away from me. I pressed my belly to the ground.

Alright, _this_ was where I drew the line. Even _I_ had enough pride left in me to not let _this_ dragon treat me this way.

" _No!_ " I hissed, swiping a paw at him.

He snickered and clamped his jaw on my leatherwork, lifting me up by my "scruff". The air rushed from my lungs when the fabric pulled taut against my neck. I let out a wheeze, scrabbling at it.

The colorful dragon growled in protest. He was standing up for me, scolding the four-winged dragon even though he was outranked.

With an amused huff, the four-winged dragon readjusted his grip so that his teeth were clamped mostly around my back and stood up. With a single, powerful stroke of his wings, he took off into the air. I had no other choice than to dangle in his jaws, but that didn't stop me from wringing around.

He took us over the cliff and swerved around the stone pillar. My heart dropped.

" _N-no_ —" I gasped.

The four-winged dragon deposited me on a small island right in front of the King. He sank into his nest's weird-looking bow.

I refused, wincing as I rose to my feet. Despite my shoulders hunching under the King's heavy stare, I lifted my head.

The four-winged dragon did a double-take at me, gasped, and whacked me with his tail. He reprimanded me, gesturing at himself and whisper-yelling at me to imitate him.

I returned the look and threw my head with a snort. His jaw fell open, eyes bulging. With a snort, he raised himself to his full height. He set me with one intimidating-looking scowl, looming over me so that I was cast in his shadow.

He was already halfway through a stern lecture that would put Toothless' to shame when the humming reverberating throughout the nest faded.

The King laughed, sending a draft of cold air over us. With a few short words, he dismissed the four-winged dragon.

He was still annoyed with me for my blatant disrespect, but knew better than to stick around. He directed a scornful and commanding hiss at me, and the message was clear: _Behave, fledgling!_

With that, he took off, swinging back above and nestling down just at the edge of the plateau. Almost all of the dragons in the nest had noticed my unwilling approach, and almost all of them were poking their heads over obstacles to get a good look. Among them, I saw the colorful dragon, the black Two-Walker, and the green Flame-Skin huddled together.

In just a few seconds, everything became quiet and still.

I winced, drawing my wings over my body and crouching close to the ground. The King's eyes pierced deep into me.

The fabric of my wings suddenly seemed so obviously _wrong_. The hair on my head a dead give-away, my pale and soft skin even more so. The awkward way I crouched there, comfortable but still clearly not moving around the way my body was _supposed_ to.

Without saying a word to me, the King's gaze stripped away all of my nice little disguises, revealing me for the liar I was.

I shivered under his unending stare. What confidence I had left shrunk beneath his massive power.

This was it, I realized. He had been hesitant, lying in wait, allowing me to wander through his nest with the confidence that I would not escape. For whatever reason he had wanted me here, he would succeed, and there was nothing I could do about it. This dragon was twice the size of the Queen, his nestmates equal in number, his island twice the distance from Berk as the Queen's nest.

A wave of hopelessness crashed into me. My heart began to hammer, and sharp zings of anxiety sent my legs rattling. I ducked my head, not in a bow, but under the weight of it all. Our gazes remained locked.

It was stupid to think I could escape. To think that I could pretend to be a fledgling until the dragons threw their paws up and took me home.

I was useless here. These dragons had given me a firm lesson that I would never have any control over my life. That all I could ever do was fall.

In the heaviness of it, a stray thought flickered, like a fire spurting to life.

 _Toothless_.

I swallowed, raising my head even as my legs rattled underneath me.

" _Why?_ " I whispered, locked in his eyes, unable to escape them.

The great King rumbled. Just as he had done last night, he shifted ever-so-slightly. An enormous tusk rose from the shallows, sending a wave over my small island. He placed it just next to me.

He waited.

I knew what it meant.

My limbs shook, but now from something else. I couldn't…I _wouldn't_ willingly hand myself over like that. I…I…

I found myself lost in those deep, old eyes. Despite it all, there was almost a gentleness to them. He had forced me into his nest. But it was clear that he would not force this on me. Not after last time.

I closed my eyes to escape, to collect my scattering thoughts. Without even meaning to, I imagined Toothless to ground myself. I tried to think of what he was doing now...only to droop at the obvious answer.

He was alone on Berk. He was terrified for me.

I knew what _he_ would do.

My chest tightened. My breath caught in my throat. My head swam with dizziness.

Opening my eyes, I lifted a trembling hand. Hesitation held me there, like a shadow had curled around my arm and was straining in the opposite direction. The air became thick and viscous, and it took all of my strength and concentration to push forward.

My fingers brushed against the King's tusk.

 _There._ Just outside my empty shell of magic, there it was. There _his_ magic was. My chest constricted. I bared my teeth in a grimace. _For Toothless_ , I reminded myself. For Toothless, I would do this.

The King watched me, calm and relaxed. He rumbled.

I realized a second too late it was a warning.

… _hello…_ , his voice split through my thoughts, soft and almost unnoticeable.

Pain erupted in my chest. I flinched like he'd smashed his tusk into me. Clenching my eyes shut, I fought for breath suddenly lost and struggled to keep my hand steady.

" _It-is-fine_ ," I growled between agonized gasps. " _It-is-fine._ "

He rumbled again. I grit my teeth and braced myself.

… _Hello…Savior…_

It was "louder" this time. I felt dizzyingly nauseous. Doubt overcame me. What was I doing? Why was I letting him do this to me? How could I be so stupid?

He warned me once more, and my panicked thoughts scrambled like birds startling into the air.

 _Hello, Savior._

Another rumble.

 _I am so sorry. Are you well enough to speak?_

I peered up at him, shaking so much it made it seem like he was jolting all over the place. Still, I gave a shaken nod.

A slight frown had formed on his muzzle, his gentle eyes concerned and guilty. He rumbled again. This time, it rose up in pitch—a question.

For a moment, I could only try to catch my breath. In an effort to stall, I glanced up at the rest of the nest around us.

Literally all of them were deadlocked on me, staring just as intensely as their King. I grimaced.

 _Rest assured, you are the only one who can hear me._

I drew my eyes back to the King, somewhat relieved at being not _as_ exposed.

 _You are the human Savior?_

My mouth was dry. I licked my lips. " _Why?_ " I croaked. " _Why you need Savior?_ "

 _Why…_ He repeated, contemplating. Closing his eyes, he heaved a great sigh that sent a gale of frigid air over me. My skin prickled with the cold.

 _We are under great threat, from which only the human Savior can face,_ the King said wearily. _To bring the dragon Savior here is to seal his death._ He recollected himself and set me with that stern gaze again. _I must know, for your sake. Are you human, or are you dragon?_

 _You're not a dragon anymore_ , Dad had screamed at me as I'd stood there crouched on four paws, my wings splayed open, immersed in conversation with our nestmates.

Even _the King_ couldn't tell. I stared into his old eyes as my own prickled with frustrated tears.

"I don't know," I breathed, the Norse clumsy and unnatural as it rolled off my tongue.

Pity made his jaw go slack, his brows lower, his eyes soften.

He asked permission to speak again. I almost didn't give it, knowing what he would say next. Still, I nodded.

 _So you_ are _the human Savior. You have suffered greatly under my orders, and I bear the responsibility. The ends justify the means. Still that is no excuse._

He sighed, worn and sorrowful.

 _It weighs heavily on my heart to have met you under these circumstances. But I am desperate now, and we have no time left. We need a Savior, but we must also protect the Savior who is vulnerable. You are the ones chosen by the gods, and I will not place one of you directly into your own destruction. That is why my nestmates brought you here, as I know that you and the other Savior would not willingly separate._

He wouldn't throw Toothless...into his own destruction. A chill went down my spine. " _No…no understand,_ " I said _._ " _What danger? Why happen? Why danger to dragon Savior? Why...why_ me?" As I spoke, I gestured in a "go on" manner.

 _Because my nestmates are disappearing._

He seemed to shrink half in size, eyes cast in shadows. _They are being carried off in the wind, without a hint of where they've gone. Almost all of our young have vanished. All of them...gone..._

He bowed his great head with a pained moan.

It gave me ample time to absorb his words, to imagine how _terrifying_ it must be to have your young whisked away without any clues of where they'd gone. The thought of it happening on _Berk_ sent a spike a fear plunging through my heart. We hadn't experienced anything like that, except for…

My eyes widened. I stiffened.

The missing Hum-Wing fledgling. The night these dragons had first attempted to kidnap me. She had flown out to sea to prove how far she could go. She had never returned.

We had thought that she had died. We had stopped looking for her.

The King lifted his head and gave a small, sad sigh. _You have suffered losses as well._

I rolled my shoulders in an uncertain shrug. I didn't know for sure if this was the same thing. Gods, I didn't know _anything._ All I knew was that this was serious enough for the King to kidnap a Savior while trying to protect the other...and that Toothless had no idea that this danger even existed.

The King drew me from my thoughts with another request to speak. I motioned him to go.

 _I bring you here not to ask you to fight this battle. There are large human nests in this area, and they have grown more violent in the past moons. Many of my nestmates have been hunted by them. I do not expect you to risk your life for us here in these dangerous skies._

 _But we desperately need your help. I am too weary to bear yet another loss._

The King began to shift his paws. The water splashed in great waves, nearly washing me away. I was forced to hold onto his tusk to stay on the island.

He closed his eyes. Then he lowered his head, and then he placed one enormous paw straight out in front of him. He flared the frills on his sides out as far as they would go.

I reeled, my mouth half-parted in amazement. The dragons above yelped and murmured.

 _I beg of you, Savior_ , the King pleaded. _May the Dragon of the Sun and Dragoness of the Moon bear witness upon me, that I humbly ask this of you in goodwill._

He bowed his head even more, digging his tusks into the island and water.

 _Please reveal to me the secrets of soulfire, so that I may vanquish this threat once and for all._

I sucked in a shaky breath.

A moment passed.

" _Soulfire?_ " I finally managed. Fear made my heart pick up again. What was he planning? To use its raw power to blow away his opponents, just like Sphere once had? Just like we had been told _never_ to do?

 _I am aware that soulfire is a godly power_ , the King explained. _It is only gifted by their grace, and carries their wrath with it. Yet abuse of it reflects that wrath upon the user, corrupting them._

 _I know this, because I was one of the elders who drove Sphere from the north and into the south._

He took in my flabbergasted expression and gave a hollow chuckle.

 _Yes…I saw the destruction that he left in his wake in the days before his demise. I promise you, Savior, that I shall not repeat those monstrous deeds. I will not teach my nestmates this technique so that it may be exposed to abuse._

Even through magic, I could feel the fear shaking his words: _But the source of the song_ must _be found, and it_ must _be obliterated. If we do not act soon, it will take us all._

Again I looked up at this huge nest, so much like a shell from the outside world. Filled with an palpable emptiness that almost pressed down on its occupants. Adults with graying scales. Adults with wide, fearful, hopeful eyes.

Adults that had attacked Berk mercilessly. Now I understood why they had targeted buildings—to drive humans out, so they could swoop on them to find the human Savior. In doing so, they had made the tribes of the archipelago set their sights on Berk, blaming us for it all.

Yet they had had no trouble attackinghumans who fought back, because apparently they were being hunted. They had gone in search for the "human" Savior, but even now, they treated me as one of them: an equal. A dragon.

I closed my eyes, my thoughts racing. I just wanted to go _home_. I already had enough of my _own_ problems to deal with.

But if the King was _this_ desperate…what would he do if I said no? What if whatever was scaring him so much went to Berk? What if it targeted _our_ nestmates? Was it better to nip it in the bud here, at the risk of giving this questionable King the magic of the gods? He seemed understanding enough, but he had made it crystal-clear already that he would stop at nothing to defend _his_ nest…just as Toothless and I would for our own.

The King was still sunken into his bow, eyes closed once more—as vulnerable as he could possibly make himself before me.

They really _were_ in trouble. They had gone to enormous lengths to get my help. They _needed_ my help.

It was clear that I was their last hope—one final, last-ditch effort in stopping... _whatever_ was taking their young.

I sighed.

" _Me understand,"_ I said slowly, making each syllable distinct. " _But me and Toothless Savior together_ , _and us decide together. Need Toothless._ " As an afterthought, "… _sorry._ "

He lifted his eyes to mine, and they were unsurprised and grieved.

 _Savior_ , _to bring him here means he could easily share the same fate as our young_ , the King reminded me. _Both of you are young adults, and thus he is susceptible to it. That is why my nestmates brought you here so quickly, to avoid his following them._

" _Us go_ together _or us no go_ ," I said with a shake of my head.

The King allowed a small, worn smile onto his lips.

 _Would you have truly parted ways? After receiving this explanation, would you have accepted that you must leave and he must stay?_

I opened my mouth to say a rebuttal, only to stop with a grimace. The King's eyes glinted knowingly.

 _It is difficult_ , he sighed. _And it is wrong to have separate you so. But it was the only way to guarantee that the both of you remain safe, and to make this request as quickly as possible. There is simply no time for lengthy debates or back-and-forth scouting missions._

 _I merely wish to learn soul-magic from you and part ways. With such power, disposing of the source shall be simple, and my nestmates may live without fear once again. I beg of you once more, Savior: please pass this knowledge on to me._

I looked him in the eyes. " _No._ "

His nestmates gasped at my blatant refusal. He grimaced and hung his head, looking so defeated that I would have thought his entire nest had already been stolen from him.

I crouched lower, too, feeling more than a little guilty now. I _wanted_ to help them, I really did.

Toothless and Berk came first. Dad came first.

And soulfire was not something that I alone should be able to gift to another dragon, not even an ancient King. As frightening as this was, as desperate as this nest fought, Toothless and I were Saviors and Kings _together._

" _Sorry_ ," I said earnestly. " _But me need Toothless. Us decide together._ "

 _No, Savior_ , the King said, resolved.

He drew up from his bow, blotting out the light above him. His eyes seemed to glow in the sudden darkness, a swift reminder of how outpowered I was here even with my title. He made sure to keep his tusks low enough to be in my reach.

 _I must apologize again_ , he said. _It was foolish of me to expect your aid, however little choices I have left to protect my nestmates. I have wounded you in more ways than one, and yet you look to me with forgiveness and empathy in your eyes. You are far better a King than I._

He bowed again.

 _I pray to the Dragon of the Sun and the Dragoness of the Moon that the song does not reach your nest. You may depart whenever you please._

Hope reignited in my heart like dry bramble catching an ember. " _Now!_ " I said, barely keeping myself still and dignified-looking.

The King sighed. _That is for the best, yes. My Four-Wing will lead an escort._

He glanced up at his nestmates and spoke to them normally. The nest filled with despairing, confused whimpers and cries.

The four-winged dragon swooped down to the island. He winced under my gaze, embarrassed, and bowed low to me with a deep apology. He threw his head towards his shoulder.

I glanced one more time at the old King.

 _Take care, Savior_ , he almost moaned. _Keep watch for hunting humans in the south. I have seen many travelling that direction, and my Color-Shifter informed me that he saw many on your journey here. I will wait for you and the dragon Savior to make your decision._

He sounded so vulnerable and afraid—and he was so shameless about it that it gave me second thoughts. The last thing he wanted was for me to leave without helping...and here he was, letting it happen anyways.

He was a lot like the Queen. But he was a lot _unlike_ her, too, and in the ways that mattered.

"We'll come back," I promised. "I'll explain everything to Toothless, and…"

I stopped myself then before I offered something that I might regret.

As weak as my comforts were, the King nearly drooped with relief. His eyes filled with warmth, and a real smile graced his lips. _Thank you, Savior._

His voice grew urgent now, _Please make haste. The song grows stronger by the day. We have very little time. I beg of you, Savior._

 _If we wait any longer, there will be no dragon left to save._

I grimaced, nodded one last time, and drew my paw away. The presence just at the edge of my shell of magic dissipated like fog in the morning sun.

The Four-Wing allowed me to climb onto his shoulders. He bowed to the King, and the King bowed one last time to me.

Without so much as a warning, the Four-Wing crouched and launched straight up towards the small gap in the ice spines that led outside. Just behind him, the three dragons whom had first attempted to kidnap me joined him: the Two-Walker, Flame-Skin, and…Color-Shifter.

We shot into the sky. The King began to hum again.

I glanced over my shoulder back at the nest, filled with doubt. It almost felt wrong to refuse to help, to leave them to their fates. Even though _they_ had been the ones to drag me into this, I felt like I was making a mistake. Like I was responsible.

I needed Toothless here. He would have known what to do, what to say. Now I was finding it hard to stay calm, to keep my frantic thoughts from imagining every possible scenario that could happen.

Even if I had promised to come back, had I just sealed their fate?

As if in answer, the dragons below began to wail with terror.

The sound did not soon leave me.

 **o.O.o**

Astrid

"Astrid, shut yer dragon up already!"

"I'm _trying_ , Mom!" I snapped.

Mom slammed the door shut. I sighed, turning to Stormfly.

She made no acknowledgment of me, staring off into space with blank eyes. She was making a sound I'd never heard before. It was almost pretty, thrumming and melodic, kind-of like birdsong.

It was also really creepy.

"Stormfly!" I leapt up and down in front of her, waving my arms around. "Wanna play fetch? Here ya go, girl! Go get it! Go get it!"

My axe clattered to the ground. Stormfly didn't even look at it.

I went to retrieve it myself. The roads were all cleaned up now, and many houses were already being rebuilt. The Chief had put everyone hard at work, including me.

I was officially on "watch Toothless" duty. Apparently, he had almost walked off a cliff. The Chief seemed to think that I was the closest person to him on Berk right now, which meant that I was the lucky Viking who got to chase the skittish Night Fury around. Normally I would have been filled with pride at getting a "special" job that he trusted me enough to ask _me_ to do it. Except…

I couldn't exactly follow Toothless when it took him two seconds to jump up on a roof, send me a sneer, and leap out of sight. I had _hoped_ Stormfly could help out.

She only paused in her thrumming to breathe. She had plopped down where she'd stood yesterday and hadn't moved since. For the entire night she had made noise, disturbing the sleep of everyone in the area. I'd assumed it was just Stormfly being Stormfly until I had woken up this morning and she was _still_ doing it.

"Gods, Hiccup, where are you…" I mumbled to myself, hooking my axe back into my belt. Approaching Stormfly, I held a hand just in front of her.

Normally she would have thrust her nose into my hand, demanding to be petted.

Her eyes remained unfocused. I patted her anyways.

"Come _on_ , girl," I pleaded. "You're starting to freak me out."

Even though I was sure it wouldn't work, I continued to try to get her attention. Offers of pets and treats went unnoticed, and waving objects in her line of sight was just as unsuccessful. Nothing I was doing was working.

I turned my eyes upwards. There were no dragons in sight.

I needed to get help.

With a defeated sigh, I took a step back.

"Stay here, Stormfly," I said. At least for this one, I knew she would listen.

I turned and ran.

 **o.O.o**

I had almost made it to Fishleg's house.

Almost.

"Astrid! Hey, Astrid!"

"Not now, Snotlout!" I said, but stopped anyways. My legs were killing me—not that I was about to let it show.

Snotlout was dragging Hookfang behind him, both of his arms around the Nightmare's muzzle. Hookfang was whining, claws digging into the ground, but still let himself get pulled along. Snotlout had such a tight hold on him that he didn't seem able to open his jaw. He shook his head every couple of seconds.

"Fancy meeting you here! You're going to see Fishlegs too, huh?" Snotlout said. He grunted when Hookfang shook him enough to lift him off the ground.

"Jeez, Snotlout, what're you doing?!" I reprimanded him. "It's not like Hookfang's gonna fly off."

"Yes he is!" Snotlout yelled, eyes wide. "Yesterday he totally tried to ditch me! I had to lock him in my house just to get him to stay!"

I opened my mouth and stopped.

"You…locked a Monstrous Nightmare…inside your house."

"Yup!" Snotlout said like it was no big deal. "Luckily, he figured out I wasn't gonna let him go so easy. But I'm not keepin' my eyes off him! He's gotta learn that we stick together to the _death!_ "

He struck a dramatic pose, throwing his fists to the sky. Hookfang leaned back, working his jaw, and then huffed when Snotlout latched onto him again.

I rolled my eyes and met the poor thing's eyes. He seemed like his normal, meek self…and with the patience of the gods.

"I think you can let go of him," I said. "Stormfly was the same way yesterday, but she's still… _weird._ "

Snotlout's expression fell. His arms went slack, and Hookfang slid away from him, licked his paw, and began rubbing it over his face.

"Weird?" Snotlout repeated. "Like, 'making a lot of annoying noise' weird?"

I nodded. "How'd you get Hookfang out of it?"

"With my natural charm and leadership skills, of course," Snotlout said with bravado. I didn't react to it, and he cut it out. "Well, actually, he kinda just…snapped out of it after awhile. I was holding him down, so I guess he got tired of it?" He reached out to the spot Hookfang's head used to be and did a double-take when he grabbed empty air. "Hookfang, get down here! I'm not letting you go until Fishlegs figures out what your deal is!"

"Actually, if you _really_ want to ask me, I'd say he looks fine."

We both spun around. Fishlegs raised an eyebrow at Snotlout, an expression perfectly mirrored by Meatlug at his side. Hookfang trotted over to her and bobbed his head, and she purred and gave him a lick on the forehead.

"Not that I'm not flattered you want my help, but…why?" He asked. "Aren't you guys supposed to be rebuilding?"

"Yeah." Snotlout shrugged. "Aren't _you_?"

Fishlegs cringed. "I'm just taking a little break to get Meatlug her favorite snack. We were heading right back, I swear!"

"Well, before you do that, I need your help," I said. "Stormfly's been off since yesterday, and I was hoping you'd know something about it. Or Meatlug."

"Uh…" Fishlegs tapped his fingers together. He looked at Meatlug, and she growled and shook her head. "I'm not sure…how much of a help we can be."

"Ugh, where is Hiccup when you need him!" Snotlout groaned.

"Carried off," I sighed. "Come on. If we're gonna ignore our jobs, let's at least do something so we have a good excuse."

We began to make our way to my house. The sun was still rising and the air was clear, filled with the hammering and shouting of reconstruction. Many of the houses we passed were already well on their way to being finished.

There was a noticeable absence of dragons. I knew that Toothless had been sending out search party after search party, but this…this was playing with fire. We were down at least half of our forces, especially after a good number of them had flown off yesterday.

"Hey, what's your job, anyways?" Fishlegs asked as we walked. "I didn't see you at all today."

Snotlout sent me a crooked grin. "Maybe you could say she's…" He latched onto Hookfang's head again. " _Playing Hookie?_ "

Meatlug groaned.

"Eh? Eh?" Snotlout said. Hookfang wriggled out of his grasp and hid behind Meatlug. "Y'know, 'cause his name is—"

"Yes, Snotlout, we get it," Fishlegs said.

I huffed. "I'm _supposed_ to be watching Toothless."

Fishlegs and Snotlout burst out laughing and Meatlug reared her head back. Hookfang watched some birds fly overhead and snapped at them.

It took them a second to realize I wasn't joking.

"Sucks to be you, Astrid!" Snotlout snickered. He tried to offer me a good-hearted punch on the shoulder, but I caught it in my palm.

"Not really. It's Hiccup we should be worried about." I frowned and added, "And Toothless."

That sucked the humor right out of them. They both grimaced.

"Yeah, Uncle Stoick's getting real worked up over that," Snotlout admitted. "But Hiccup's gotta be back soon, right? I mean, he's _Hiccup!_ " He threw his hands in the air. "And he can talk to dragons and stuff!"

"I just hope he's okay," Fishlegs said. "I don't know what we'd do without him. Especially if those ones from last night come back _._ Even Meatlug doesn't get what was up with them."

Meatlug bared her teeth in a snarl.

"Well, _I'm_ more worried about the Bog Burglars," Snotlout groused, pounding a fist in his hand.

I nodded, glancing up and the down the surrounding streets—and stopped in my tracks. "Is that…?"

For a moment, I was just confused. I did a double-take and blinked rapidly, half-wondering if I was hallucinating from all the stress.

"Hey!" I shouted.

Bergthora, my old bread-making mentor, spun around. She sent us a bright grin. "Good mornin', Astrid!" she shouted all the way down the street.

I sent a look at an equally-confused Snotlout and Fishlegs. All of us broke off into a run. We stopped just outside her shop, which had been partially-destroyed by all of the fires and still had part of its roof caved in.

"How's yer families?" Bergthora asked warmly.

"Who cares about that!" Snotlout shouted. "What're you doing with a Monstrous Nightmare?!"

Bergthora was standing right next to a huge, yellow Nightmare, patting its head. The dragon was curled up around her like a giant cat, eyes closed and purring.

"Oh, Rye here?" Bergthora asked. "Dogsbreath gave 'em to me. Said I had to have 'em ta help protect my shop." She pulled some salted meat from her pocket and threw it at the Nightmare. He sniffed for a second, snapped his eyes open, and gobbled it up like he was starving.

Hookfang whined, butted Snotlout's back, and looked pointedly at the pocket Bergthora had gotten the food from. Meatlug grunted at him, and he lowered his head and eyes.

"Wait, wait, wait," Fishlegs rushed. "You said Dogsbreath _gave_ him to you?"

"Sure did!" Bergthora boomed. "A good man, he is. A bit rough 'round the edges, but we can't _all_ be perfect. Normally I'd've given 'em a wallopin' fer bossin' me around, but I didn't mind so much this time. If his tiny Terror can protect his little ones, then I'm more than happy ta work with a Nightmare if that means _my_ children will be safe."

"And where is Dogsbreath right now? When did this happen?" I demanded.

"'bout an hour ago, just in the clearing of Town Square," Bergthora hummed, throwing another treat to her Nightmare and some to Hookfang and Meatlug as well. Meatlug took a delicate nip out of it, while Hookfang essentially took a bite out of the ground. He bounced on his feet and whined, begging for more.

I almost groaned. Suddenly Dogsbreath's questions yesterday made a _lot_ more sense. "Alright, thanks. Guys, let's…"

I hesitated.

Stormfly still needed help. I hated abandoning her like I already had, leaving her to sit alone in the middle of the street. What if she was gone when I came back? How would I find her?

I wasn't about to let Dogsbreath "give away" dragons all on his own, though.

I deflated, gritting my teeth.

"Let's go, guys."

 **o.O.o**

Finding Dogsbreath wasn't too hard, considering how loud he was.

"Who's next?" He hollered, his voice echoing off the buildings.

There was an awkward silence.

"Well, don't make me pick someone!" He shouted. "This is the best way to make sure the dragons stay and protect us!"

I reached the large-ish crowd and shoved my way through.

Dogsbreath stood tall and proud, Noodles perched on his helmet and all puffed up. At his side was a basket of provisions from the last fishing trip.

He threw a finger at a middle-aged man close to him. "You! Your turn!"

"U-uh—" the man stuttered, holding his palms up.

"Noodles, get 'em," Dogsbreath grunted.

With a squeak, Noodles plopped to the ground and scampered to the "chosen one". Even though the man's foot was bigger than him, he snagged the hem of his pants and pulled with all his might, flapping his one wing in an orange blur.

"See how obedient he is?" Dogsbreath bragged, crossing his arms with a smug grin. "My dragon will stop at nothin' fer my family!"

The poor villager crumbled under the peer pressure, stepping forward with wide, anxious eyes.

So did I.

"Dogsbreath, what're you doing?" I said. Snotlout, Fishlegs, and their dragons forced their way to my side.

He let out a huge huff. "Well, _someone_ has ta do this." He turned to the villager and gave him a hard pat on the back. "There ya go. Now then…"

He pursed his lips, reached inside the basket, and pulled out a fish. Then he held it up.

A bunch of really confused dragons stared back, their heads cocked sideways.

Hookfang crept forward, sniffing at the fish, and Dogsbreath waved him off.

"Bah! Not you," he grunted. He raised the fish even higher and shouted, "Come on down now! I've got food fer ya!"

The dragons all looked at each other, chirping and squawking. On the ground, Hookfang was slumping with disappointment and Meatlug was doing a very good job at pulling off Toothless' "unimpressed" look.

Meatlug snorted and growled. Noodles squeaked at her, doing everything he could to look bigger. She lifted a brow.

"How long have you been doing this?" I asked. "I seriously doubt that they'll come down _just_ for—oh, one came down."

A white Nadder with brilliant orange stripes had taken the bait, descending with a few short flaps and landing next to Meatlug and Hookfang. They all bobbed their heads at each other—Meatlug and Hookfang deeper than the Nadder—and focused on the fish.

"You were sayin'?" Dogsbreath said smugly.

I narrowed my eyes. "Dogsbreath, I really think you should leave this to Hiccup and Toothless."

"Well, they ain't here!" He said. To the villager, he raised his voice, "Now, you! What's yer name?"

"T-Thuggory, but I don't need a dragon—"

"Yes ya do!" Dogsbreath snapped. "Do ya want _more_ of 'em ta leave?"

Thuggory cringed and shrugged.

"I'll answer that for ya: ya don't! We got too many enemies ta let 'em go! Now go give this one a reason ta stay!"

He threw the fish in Thuggory's hands and shoved him at the Nadder.

"They're not _guard dogs_ ," I exclaimed. "You're doing this all wrong!"

Thuggory hesitated until Dogsbreath gave him another whack on the back. He tiptoed closer to the Nadder, which was shooting looks at Meatlug and Hookfang.

"U-uh, nice Nadder. _Pretty_ Nadder," Thuggory stammered. He held the cod out with shaking hands. "Here ya go, take the fish."

Hookfang lunged for it.

Thuggory squealed and backpedaled, hitting the ground hard. The Nadder flinched, and Meatlug sent a flat look at Hookfang.

"Hookfang!" Snotlout scolded. He put his hands on his hips and glared at his dragon, who crouched low and backed up behind Meatlug. "What's your problem? You could've gotten hurt, and then _I_ would have had to deal with all your whining!"

"Get that one out of here!" Dogsbreath snapped, throwing his arm through the air.

I groaned, putting my head in my hand. How many villagers had Dogsbreath "bonded" to a dragon like this? Giving them the idea that by feeding them, the dragon would go out of its way to protect them? He had the right idea, but this was a recipe for disaster. Expectations would be high, and if the dragons _didn't_ exclusively protect the villagers, then they'd be given up on.

"Dogsbreath, this _isn't_ the right way to do this," I said, squaring my shoulders and looking him in the eye. "You can't forceit."

"Yeah," Fishlegs said. "Hiccup already told you, it's more of a mutual friendship than a deal. Both parties have to choose each other."

Dogsbreath glanced behind me and he grinned. "Well, this is good enough fer me," he said, pointing.

The Nadder had grabbed Thuggory by his arm and was pulling him to his feet. It nosed his hands, sniffing, and then twisted its neck towards the basket.

"Now make it like you!" Dogsbreath encouraged, throwing another fish at Thuggory.

Thuggory was so shaken he caught the fish and instantly dropped it. The Nadder watched it splat to the ground and then blinked at him.

"Uh, that's fer you," Thuggory said, pointing.

Tilting its head, the Nadder sniffed at Thuggory some more and stooped. It swallowed the fish—and immediately began dry-heaving.

Thuggory had only taken a few steps backwards when the Nadder regurgitated half of the fish right into his hands. Then it chirped, opened its wings, and flew away.

"W- _what?_ " Thuggory exclaimed, dropping the fish with disgust.

"Yeah, yeah, get used to that," Dogsbreath said. He raised his voice and pointed. "Now after it! And bring it that fish!"

"Y-yes, sir!" Thuggory gasped. He picked up the fish and sprinted away in the direction the Nadder had flown.

I raised a brow at Dogsbreath. He smirked right back.

"Well, this is going to work out _wonderfully_ ," Fishlegs groaned.

Dogsbreath's eyes flicked behind us and he did a double-take. His confident grin gave way to a stern, almost blank expression. The crowd around us grew very silent.

I whipped around to see the Chief parting the crowd, Toothless at his side.

The Chief looked justifiably suspicious. Toothless was exhausted, his head low and wings and tail dragging on the ground.

"Can someone please explain to me why none of you are working?" The Chief demanded to all of the guilty bystanders. "And why I just saw Thuggory chase a Nadder down the street with a half-eaten fish?"

"I'm gettin' people ta work with dragons," Dogsbreath said, crossing his arms over his chest. "Fer extra protection."

Toothless took this in and straightened up with visible effort. He sent a sharp snort at Noodles. The Terror pressed close to Dogsbreath, whining. After a few seconds of it, Toothless' eyes widened, and he dropped his head with a moan.

The Chief glanced at me. I shook my head.

"All of you, back to work!" He commanded.

The crowd scattered, leaving us standing alone with Dogsbreath.

Dogsbreath and the Chief stared into each other, each none too happy to see the other.

"This is something better-suited for my son," the Chief eventually said.

"Yer son's been carried off, Chief," Dogsbreath returned in a calm, somber tone. "Nobody has ever returned from that."

Toothless lifted himself up, showed his teeth, and gave a breathy hiss.

The Chief clenched his fists and leaned in close. "Get back to work," he said, his voice steady and low.

Dogsbreath sighed, but did what he was told. "Very well," he grumbled, locking the basket and shouldering it. "Let's be off then, Noodles."

Noodles bowed at Toothless, squeaking. Without another word, the odd duo departed.

The Chief waited for them to get out of earshot and then got right to business. He turned to me and the others. "The same goes for you three. Snotlout, Fishlegs, go help with repairs. We need to get everyone out of Town Hall as fast as we can before disease starts spreading."

"Yes, Chief!" My friends said, eager to escape before they got punished. They scrambled away, their dragons on their heels.

With everyone gone, the Chief settled me a stern look. I cringed, knowing that I looked like I was slacking just as much as everyone else.

"I appreciate you keeping a handle on things, Astrid, but you have a job as well," the Chief said. "Leave that to me."

"Y-yes, Chief," I said. I glanced at Toothless. His expression was difficult, if not impossible to read. "Have you heard any news?"

Toothless drooped, twisting his neck to look north. The Chief shook his head with a sigh.

"No," he said sullenly. "The search parties have not returned. Toothless thinks it a bad idea to chase after them with ships, but…"

We looked at Toothless. His head was low and his ears flattened.

"I'll give 'em a few more hours," the Chief said. "Then we take matters into our own hands. I'll be preparing the ships at the docks. In the meantime, _you two_ keep watch out for anything."

He said this pointedly. What he _really_ meant was: _Astrid, do your job and keep an eye on Toothless like I told you to._

"Yes, Chief," I said, trying not to look as nervous as I felt.

An idea came to mind and I straightened out, suddenly hopeful. "And Toothless, I actually really need your help with something. It's Stormfly."

He snapped his head up, eyes wide. I had a feeling he already knew what I was going to say, but I spoke anyways.

"There's something wrong with her."

 **o.O.o**

Stormfly was still making noise in the same exact spot as I'd left her. I didn't know if that was good or bad.

Toothless hissed, pinning his ears and leaning away. He shook his head and took a step backwards.

"She started doing this when those dragons showed up last night," I said. I put a hand on her nose and sighed when she didn't respond. "Snotlout said the same thing happened to Hookfang, but he snapped out of it after awhile."

Toothless was shaking his head every couple of seconds, his back arched and wings fluttering. He lashed his tail and sent a sharp hiss at Stormfly.

No response.

"Do you know what it is?" I almost begged Toothless. "Can you make her stop?"

" _Please_ make her stop," a villager down the street shouted. I glared at him and turned to Toothless.

He seemed to have frozen in place, his wide eyes locked on Stormfly.

I swallowed as my heart picked up the pace. Was it _that_ bad?

"Toothless?" I asked, slipping away from Stormfly and towards him. "What—what's wrong with her?! You're freaking me out here!"

I put a hand on his forehead, just as I had yesterday when he'd been like this.

He jolted to attention and shook his head, baring his teeth.

I backed away to give him some space, putting my hand back on Stormfly again. "Alright, so…you're just as confused about it as I am."

His eyes met mine, filled with confusion and turmoil. After a second, he nodded.

I faced Stormfly, stepping directly in front of her. "Come on, girl," I whispered. "Aren't you getting tired of this?"

I tried to recollect everything Snotlout had told me. I seriously doubted that I needed to throw Stormfly in my house for her to get better. But that was the only difference between him and me.

I sighed, grabbing onto Stormfly's cheekbones with both of my hands.

Stormfly did nothing.

"I guess…let's get you inside, then," I mumbled. "It's the only lead we've got."

Still I didn't move—I knew that dragging her inside _wasn't_ the answer, and that it would only complicate things. Snotlout had done something without realizing it, I just knew it.

Was this…permanent?

I tightened my grip, squaring up. No, I knew from Snotlout that it was temporary. I just had to figure out what he did.

There was a short bark next to me. I jumped, stepping away.

Toothless had ghosted his way to my side. He still took the time to give me a look before he turned to my dragon, his ears pressed as tight against his skull as he could get. He growled at her, loud and distinct. He even reared up on his shaking hind legs, giving her a short bat on the nose before he fell back down.

Stormfly _loved_ to play. She should have been ecstatic. Instead she stared straight forward.

"Oh, Stormfly," I whisper, reaching out and grabbing onto her again. I hugged her to my chest and rested my forehead against hers. "Please snap out of it."

Closing my eyes, I let the moment drag out, wracking my brain for what to do based on what I knew.

The absence of sound was the first thing I noticed.

I jolted upright. "Stormfly?!"

She still had that distant look in her eyes—but she had stopped making that horrible sound, which was better than nothing.

Toothless threw his head in a "go on" motion and turned to Stormfly, speaking to her.

I ran a hand over her forehead. "Stormfly? C'mon, girl, snap outta it."

For several seconds, she did nothing but blink.

Then she leapt to her feet with a loud screech, spinning in a tight circle.

"Woah!" I yelped, ducking just as her tail swung around. "Stormfly! Calm down!"

Stormfly flapped her wings, tail barbs poised and eyes wild.

Toothless leapt in front of me, reared up with open wings, and roared.

The sudden silence made my ears ring. I peeked around Toothless.

Stormfly had flinched away, crouching against the dirt with her head lowered. She shook her head, clucking, and scratched at it with her hind paw.

Her eyes caught mine. She froze mid-scratch.

With a shriek, Stormfly charged, wings flapping. She bowled me over, teeth flashing in the sunlight, and flattened me against the ground with her talons—

—and began licking me.

"Ah! _Stormfly!_ " I wheezed, trying to bat her off. " _Gross!_ Down, girl!"

Toothless pawed her away, allowing me room to sit up. He began to rumble, but Stormfly interrupted him with several squawks and whistles, bouncing in place.

With a snort, I began to laugh. Stormfly wriggled with excitement and charged me again, throwing her head into my arms.

"Good girl!" I cried, petting her in all her favorite spots. "Oh, good girl, Stormfly! You did it! Yes, you did!"

Toothless rolled his eyes at the baby-talk, but that didn't stop me. I hugged Stormfly close and repeated myself over and over, like if I stopped then she would turn back into _whatever_ that was again. Stormfly was all for the attention she was getting, chirping excitedly and barely keeping herself still. She stepped on me a few times, but I didn't care—I'd take that a thousand times if it meant that she was okay.

"Don't you _ever_ do that again," I said, clutching her close. "You hear me, Stormfly?"

She purred, settling down next to me. With a happy chirp, she swung her tail around Toothless and literally dragged him closer to us. He pulled away with a grunt, and Stormfly began to whine at him.

"Sorry," I snickered, patting Stormfly to get her to stop asking him to cuddle. "But, really…thank you, Toothless. I really needed your help to snap her out of it."

He shrugged, looking away with half-lidded eyes and limp wings.

I frowned.

"I know it's hard," I said, reaching a hand out to him. "And I know it doesn't help seeing a…'reunion' like this. But I know everything's going to be okay, Toothless."

He stared, unreadable.

Then he pressed his nose to my hand and twisted away, staring off in the distance like it never happened.

I dropped my hand and said, "You need a break. When was the last time you slept? _Before_ the raid?"

No response. That meant "yes".

I sent him an admonishing look, one he very quickly leered at. "You need to take care of yourself, too, Toothless," I said. "What if those dragons come back? How much help are you gonna be if you're dead on your feet, huh?"

He snorted, throwing his head.

"C'mon," I said, patting the ground next to Stormfly and me. "Just rest a little, and you'll feel much better when you wake up."

Toothless hesitated and shook his head, turning back towards the way we'd come.

"Toothless. Sleep. Now." I shrugged, leaning as casually as I could against Stormfly. "Or I'll just go tell the _Chief_ that you're acting weird—which you are, by the way—and that I really, really think _he_ should keep an eye on you. Y'know, to make sure you stay safe."

Toothless halted and studied me, searching for a bluff. I did everything I could to keep a straight face.

With an over-exaggerated groan, Toothless returned to our spot and thumped to the ground. Stormfly chattered excitedly, cuddling up right next to him and curling her tail around him. He huffed grumpily and tried to look uninterested, staring north.

He couldn't hide how he pressed closer to Stormfly, though. Or the slight purr he allowed to rise from his chest. He'd been stretched far too thin in these past two days.

"There you go," I whispered. I reached out to give him some much-needed comfort.

He was already asleep.

 **o.O.o**

Hiccup

We were far from the King's half-empty, shell-like nest.

We were flying at such speeds that the ocean turned to smooth silk below us. The Four-Wing was rushing the escort, flying at full speed without rest. It was all I could do to hang on for dear life.

The King had been serious when he'd asked us to "make haste"; we were going _pretty_ dang fast.

So fast that we had no reaction time.

The Color-Shifter screeched.

A blast of frigid air thundered into us from below, followed by a gale of fog. It rushed past us like an explosion, obscuring everything from sight before I could even cry out in alarm.

The Four-Wing shrieked and flailed his wings, sending us careening back and forth. With precious seconds to spare, he twisted so that his back was to the tailwind. We blasted through the sudden, dense fog, barely able to breath from the sheer rush of it.

It took almost a full minute to stop, the gale was so powerful. When we finally slowed down to a less-lethal pace, the Four-Wing cried out for his nestmates. Their voices echoed around us, filled with fear and confusion.

" _W-what?!_ " I hissed, whipping my head around and shivering. The temperature had plummeted and my hands were already going numb.

The Four-Wing shouted into the mass of gray, swung his tail down, and threw us upwards. I struggled to hold on as the water condensed on his scales and made them slippery.

We flew higher and higher. The air thinned.

I was starting to feel lightheaded when the world suddenly burst with light. We spiraled up into the clear air and kept going. A second passed, and then another, and another...

When the Four-Wing finally leveled out, the two of us let out horrified, amazed gasps.

The sudden cloud cover was easily the size of a few islands. It stretched out like a thundercloud in all directions, a huge swath over the ocean. Cold air was coming off of it. It had all but materialized from the ocean below, and had spread faster than even a Shadow-Blender could fly.

Even up here, I could just barely make out…something. It was vibrating in my chest and ears, just noticeable enough to bother me. I shook my head.

The Four-Wing roared to his nestmates. If they responded, their voices were muffled in the fog.

He glanced over his shoulder, asking me an apprehensive question and nodding back down towards the fog.

I shook my head. The _last_ thing we needed to do was go back down there to... _whatever_ that was. " _Like this_ ," I said. Clenching my fist, I held it up and moved my other hand just over it in a straight line.

He gave the same military-like chirp of understanding his nestmates gave their King. I clamped onto him, and he dove. Just before going back in, he pulled up and skimmed just over the cloud. Again he cried out, and I joined in with him, shouting into the mists.

His nestmates' voices were all over the place—they seemed to be coming from multiple directions, sometimes shifting in position so rapidly that it was startling.

The vibration grew louder to the point that I could hear it…kind of. It was an enormous sound, something that grinded against my eardrums and made me clench my teeth. The Four-Wing noticed it as well, growling at it with rising anxiety.

I tightened my grip on the Four-Wing as fear and anxiety began to blend into panic. _Something_ was going on here, and every inch of me was screaming to get away.

Light fluttered through the fog up ahead. The Four-Wing banked perpendicular to it, careful not to fly directly over it.

The fog swelled with a second explosion. A dragon screeched.

The Flame-Skin burst into the clear air hundreds of feet ahead, spotted us, and thrust his wings open to slow down. He leveled out just next to us and gave a relieved greeting.

The Four-Wing growled and spat a whirlwind of fire in front of us, cutting down through the fog. With a quick command, he reared up and flared all four of his wings, pumping them as hard as he could to create a pocket of safety below. The Flame-Skin did the same.

Both of them were shaking their heads and flying unsteadily. I myself was feeling a little woozy.

A black blur burst from one end, sped through the pocket, and went straight back in. A second later, and the black Two-Walker dipped out from the fog and scrambled over to us, relieved. All that was left was the Color-Shifter.

Everyone was snarling in terror and anger. I shivered from the cold, glancing back and forth in desperate search of _anything_ that could hint at what was happening or where the Color-Shifter was.

A dragon raced through the pocket.

A dull, brown one.

A hush fell over us.

With a soft click, the Four-Wing ducked away from the pocket and back out over the fog, out of sight. The black Two-Walker hissed a question, and the Flame-Skin shushed her.

The impossible fog had already reached out to the horizon. If the Color-Shifter had lost his way down there…

I bared my teeth. The fog, the stillness, the fearful silence…

It was just like the ocean outside the Queen's nest.

My head seemed to be filling with buzzing insects. The Four-Wing was suffering the same, shaking his head. One half of his body leaned back down into the fog, and with a start, he righted himself.

We flew in timid silence, the only sound being the air rushing past and the vibrations below. Every now and then, the deathly quiet was broken by the muffled cry of a dragon—but now we didn't know for sure if it was the Color-Shifter. Not now, when we knew that we weren't alone.

The Four-Wing took us further and further south. The fog stretched on endlessly, surreally, impossibly.

Through the corner of my eye, I spotted a darker spot—an edge. It was southeast rather than straight south.

Clicking my tongue, I pointed towards it.

The Four-Wing swooped around, banking so sharply that I was nearly thrown off. We were ahead of the edge, and so had to double-back _into_ the fog to get to it. It didn't matter, though; the end was in sight. My skin was crawling with the sensation of being watched, of closeness to the Queen, and I needed _out_.

I could only hope that the Color-Shifter had seen the edge, too. Even as we neared it, movement flickered around it. There were a few bursts of fire.

We got close enough to hear battle cries.

I stiffened, straightening up and craning my neck to see as best as I could. The Four-Wing clucked and started to take us away, and I gave a desperate shriek, " _No!_ "

He asked a baffled question, but I was too focused on the voices.

On the accents.

" _HELLO!_ " I screamed for all I was worth, giving up our secrecy altogether. " _ME HERE!_ _HICCUP HERE!"_

There was a pause. My heart lifted with joy. They'd heard me— _they'd heard me!_

" _ME_ _HERE!_ " I shrieked. " _ME—_ "

The air ripped apart.

To describe it as a sound would be like describing the ocean as a drop of water. It rattled every one of my bones, shaking me down to my very core. It sent spots swarming across my vision as it tore at my ears, banging against them with the force of a hammer. I clenched my eyes shut and threw my paws over my ears, but it made no difference. It was godly in size, so powerful that I could _feel_ the vibrations pounding through the air around us.

The Four-Wing tipped unsteadily from side to side, shaking his head violently.

My stomach lurched. Fear pulsed through my veins.

The Four-Wing lost his balance and spiraled out of control. I fell into the fog.

 _Oh, gods! Oh, Dragon of the Sun!_

I let myself fall a second to figure out which way was up—and then threw my wings open and flipped over. I squinted against the freezing fog, struggling to breathe and gasping.

The world-consuming roar faded. The vibrations returned, louder this time.

" _Me here_ ," I tried to shout, but I couldn't hear my own voice. My ears were ringing so loudly that they drowned out all other sound.

I hung there in that fog, almost floating, the only indication I was moving being the air skirting past me.

With frantic breaths, I whipped my head back and forth for any sign of the escort. I couldn't see them—I couldn't see _anything._ I could barely see the tips of my fingers in this dense fog. Lower and lower I glided. We had been so high up that I wasn't worried about crashing into the ocean—yet.

The vibrations were all that was left. I couldn't hear it anymore, but I could feel it, dancing at the edge of my awareness.

I turned my full attention on it.

It…it wasn't magic. Stalking around my empty shell proved nothing new. It was definitely a _sound_ —a loud one at that, and something far away judging by how dim it felt.

Focusing more on what I _could_ perceive of it, my head began to spin. It suddenly seemed to swarm my awareness. It was…it was almost…

...familiar.

The dull fog suddenly dissipated. The ocean burst out in front of me, a vibrant blue that nearly blinded me, leaving me squinting until my eyes readjusted to the bright reflection.

I got my bearings and almost dropped out of the sky. A sudden jolt of understanding came over me at _why_ we had heard and seen fighting.

There were ships.

They had all turned away from the mass of fog reaching up to the heavens, but I had lost a lot of altitude. I was low enough to have been able to pull my wings and land somewhat safely.

They saw me at the same time I saw them. They scrambled around the decks.

I swayed midair, trapped, and cried out uselessly for the dragons. If I couldn't even hear myself, I knew there was no chance they'd be able to hear me.

A blur rushed towards me. On instinct, I tucked my wings in and fell.

The net went right over me. I snapped my wings open and threw a paw down, banking out of the way of a second.

" _STOP!_ " I shouted in Norse below. I had no clue if it was loud enough to be heard.

Another net—I clutched my wings in again.

They predicted that this time. The second net smacked into me just below the first. I was dragged down, down!

White-hot fear overwhelmed me. I clawed at the bindings as the ocean rushed up to meet me, a slick surface that promised to tear me apart on impact. A terrified shriek that I couldn't hear ripped from my throat. My vision went white with the reflections off the waters.

" _No!_ " I howled, but to who, I didn't know.

I was going to die. I was going to die and Toothless would never know. He would never find me, he would always despair over not knowing what happened, he would blame himself every second of every day, he would be _alone_ —

The net lurched to a halt. My breath left me in a whoosh and my head lurched. Sparks swam across my vision, and it took several seconds for me to blink them away and look up.

The elder Hum-Wing bared her teeth and roared. She was squinting, her ears twitching and flight unsteady. She looked like she was in a lot of pain, shaking her head every couple of seconds.

It didn't stop me from crying out in delight, so relieved to _finally_ see a familiar face.

The horizon lurched sideways. Another net went sailing past.

The elder swooped over the fleet, spitting a fireball below. She put all of her energy into flying up and out of range.

The next net came from behind, a blur in the periphery of my vision. By the time I had snapped around to face it, it was already too late. It curled around the elder, tangling in her wings.

My insides flip-flopped as we began to fall. The Hum-Wing flung me up towards her and wrapped her body around me.

A huge, bone-cracking impact sent brilliant lights flickering across my eyes, filling me with nausea.

I couldn't breathe. We were—we were captured—we were in a net—!

The elder was rumbling with a snarl. She held on tight, but couldn't keep her grip. Something yanked me out of her grasp.

My ears were still screaming with pain. My entire body ached from the fall. I could still hardly see, blinded by the sudden bright sunlight and the force of the impact. A growing, pounding migraine made all of it worse, amplifying the pain and nausea and sparks spattering across my eyes.

Panic found easy footing and flooded through me.

I wrenched around, baring my teeth and clawing at the silhouettes working around me. They were dancing back and forth like shadows, the sun above them beaming and blinding.

The net loosened. Rough hands latched onto my arms and yanked me out of it. I was being pulled this way and that by every limb, and with each jolt my migraine worsened, more spikes of light flashing through my vision.

" _No!_ " I gasped, kicking and writhing. My head was pounding, my thoughts swarming, my breath gone, my limbs throbbing from the impact.

Something rammed into my chest, pinning my arms against a form behind me.

I sank my teeth into it.

Blood filled my mouth. I was thrown to the ground. Someone kicked me, knocking the air out of me. I curled up, clenching my eyes shut against the onslaught, desperately trying to throw my arms up to protect my head. I tried to curl up under my wings and tail, but couldn't.

Everything grew still. The ringing in my ears began to fade, allowing me to hear the waves crashing into the ships and the elder's terrified growls.

It all caught up to me at once.

Horror crushed me there, grinding me into the deck with the weight of what I'd done.

I'd…attacked someone.

I'd _bitten_ someone.

The phantom shadow, ever present, began to laugh. I grit my teeth and clawed at my hair.

" _No_ ," I whimpered. " _No, no_ , no…"

"Would'ya listen to that," a woman was shouting, but her voice sounded tinny and muffled. "Ya hear the unholy sounds it's makin'?"

Everything was swirling around me. The Kill Ring—I was back in my cage, Dad was there—he was bleeding, I'd bitten him, I'd hurt him, he hatedme, he was going to _kill_ me!

 _Not now!_ I begged. _Please, not now!_

Something solid and hard rammed into my stomach and flipped me onto my back. A scream ripped from my throat. The elder shrieked with outrage.

Through the pain and panic, I forced my eyes open and squinted. There was someone standing over me, pinning me with their foot.

The shadow swirled through my mind, distracting me, threatening to overcome me with memories. Being hunted. The Kill Ring. Dad.

 _It's not real!_

I forced every ounce of strength into focusing on the person holding me down—the person in the real world, in the present, _not_ my father.

Realization set in, and I wished I hadn't.

A nasty grin spread across the face of Bertha, Chieftain of the Bog Burglars.

"Well," she sneered. "I guess that saves us a trip."


	15. Chapter 14

**Hello, everyone!**

 **This chapter is going to be a little short for a multitude of reasons...primarily, finals. Hopefully that makes it easier to read for those of you struggling with them. Good luck!**

 **I'd like to thank Asriel Dreemmurr son of toriel, Alllllevandur, TheFuriousNightFury, Logan-The-Roleplayer, CrisDLZ, TheWhisperingWarrior, Elt-1080, Nacktgranate, Brenne, Varghul, SAI1, NightShadow9558, 2012209, and Crysist for all your kind thoughts! I'd also like to thank my beta Crysist for blasting through this one real fast.**

 **Lastly, here's your annual reminder that "Unheard Whispers" exists. If you haven't already, check it out for a full novella about the Queen, "What Was Hidden", and a little character study on Stormfly, "Training"!**

 **I hope you all have a great day! Reviews are always greatly appreciated!**

* * *

 **Chapter 14**

Toothless

The ocean swooped upon me, curling around my legs and wings and spinning me at dizzying speeds. I was too heavy to struggle, drifting further into that black abyss, helpless and alone. That humming sound pounded against my ears, that paradoxical song of something that was and wasn't.

" _Hiccup_ ," I whispered.

My lungs filled with water. I snapped my eyes open and bolted upright.

"Woah!" Astrid yelped.

" _Ki-ing!_ " Stormfly whined.

I sucked in heavy breaths, flicking my eyes about. My chest was stinging, but not from the aftermath of soulfire.

Berk. We were on Berk. The sun was at its highest peak; it had only been a few hours.

"You okay?" Astrid asked, still lounging against Stormfly's side. She shifted around so that she faced me. "Did you hear something?"

I shook my head, blinking in the blinding light. A daze was pressing firmly on my head, dulling my senses. The world swayed, and I jumped and dug my claws into the ground for purchase.

A soft, warm paw put a gentle pressure on my forehead. I closed my eyes and almost couldn't reopen them.

"You look really out of it," Astrid said. "Maybe try to sleep more?"

With a groan, I shook my head again and got to my feet.

"But _King!_ " Stormfly whimpered, pawing at me with her wing. "I was so comfy."

I studied her. Thank the Dragoness of the Moon, she seemed perfectly herself. Although, in hindsight, that might not exactly forebode well for the rest of Berk now that the rambunctious yearling was back on her feet.

"How are you feeling, Stormfly?" I asked. My voice came out much more hoarse than I expected it to.

She gave a huge yawn. "I'm _ti-red_. Can we sleep some more? Please? I promise I won't snore or—hey, _human!_ "

Astrid had gotten to her feet, much to the Stormfly's despair. Stormfly snapped her jaw out and grabbed Astrid's paw, dragging her back towards her.

"It's _sleeping time!_ " She said. "You're a fledgling, and you need sleep!"

Astrid patted her and Stormfly immediately forgot that she was holding her human captive. This allowed Astrid to slip away to come stand at my side, making it clear that she would follow me wherever I went. Yet…that didn't make me upset or even annoyed. The idea that she had been sent to babysit me wasn't as patronizing or bothersome as I thought it would be. When I met her eyes, I could see real concern.

I sighed and let myself lean into the shoulder of my former adversary, just for a moment. "Thank you, Astrid."

She grinned. "There you go. Now—"

Her eyes widened and her smile fell. In a single, smooth movement, she ripped her axe from her side and shouted, " _Duck!_ "

I threw myself down. Stormfly squealed. Astrid swung her weapon.

 _Thunk._

"Ow!"

Wide awake now, I whipped around, wings half-opened and head low.

The colorful dragon from the raid was sitting _right_ there, rubbing a delicate paw over his head where Astrid's strike had met its mark. "My, my," he moaned. "And you mean to tell me you _protect_ these humans?"

He had no more time to speak. I pounced, launching at him faster than I'd moved in days. His eyes widened and his form flickered. He suddenly disappeared from sight.

A solid impact, and both of us crashed into the ground. Just as quickly as he had vanished, the colorful dragon reappeared, eyes huge. He snapped at my neck, forcing me to rear up, and then tried to dig his paws into my belly to push me off. I threw myself down, putting all of my weight into my front paws, and slammed my claws into his shoulders.

He cried out in pain and yelped, "I submit, Savior!"

"It's the mean dragon!" Stormfly screeched. In the corner of my eye, she leaped to her feet and scrambled behind me towards Astrid, wings flapping wildly and spines standing on end. "I-I'll protect you, human!"

I leered at the colorful dragon, leaning down and snarling with my teeth inches from his exposed throat. Lighting gas drifted freely between my fangs, a promise of a slow and painful death just a moment's thought away.

" _Where—is—Hiccup?!_ " I roared.

Eyes wide and petrified, the colorful dragon cringed away. "You mean—the—the human Savior?" He wheezed.

I dug my claws deeper into his scales and opened my jaw wide, allowing the fire within to build up just enough for light to fill my throat. It was reflected in the colorful dragon's eyes, and he cringed away into the earth in a futile attempt to avoid incineration.

"I'm sorry!" He rushed. "Yes! I can tell you! If you'd listen, then—!"

"You've got a lot of nerve saying that," I cut him off, keeping my voice low and calm. "Now tell me where he is _right now_ , or I'll tear you to shreds." I dug my claws further into his scales, shearing right through the delicate scales of his underside.

He grimaced with clear pain and squirmed. "We—we were returning him! We were taking him back here, but we were intercepted. I lost sight of my nestmates, and him with them."

His eyes shone with clear fear; he was telling the truth.

I almost _screamed_. Here he was, dangling the idea that Hiccup had almost made his way back—only for him to carelessly _lose_ him?!

"What do you mean?!" I hissed. " _Intercepted?_ You _lost sight_ of him? How?!"

He didn't meet my stare, eyes flicking around to keep me in his peripheral vision. His hind legs kicked uselessly at my stomach, and he wriggled long enough for me to slam my weight into him again. That drove the lesson clear through him, and he went limp in submission.

"The fog, Savior," he gasped. "Have you not seen it, far out on the horizon? It appeared without warning underneath us, bringing with it a nest of dragons whom I did not care to reveal myself to. By the time I had flown over it, it filled all my vision, and then—and then I was deafened by _something_. It disoriented me, and I camouflaged myself and flew here as fast as I could. I had hoped that the Four-Wing had already beaten me here, but…"

He fell silent, eyes distant, staring into the past.

"But _what?_ " I growled.

"But…I heard the song," he breathed. "Had I not channeled my magic into my speed, I certainly would have perished. My nestmates…I dread that they've been taken up in it, and the Savior with them." He tilted his head towards me and met my eyes. "Please, Savior, we must make haste. I apologize on my nest's behalf. We were trying to keep you safe from exactly this. But surely the human Savior has to be immune?"

The fog. Stormfly. The ocean. Singing dragons. Our missing nestmates.

And they had thrown Hiccup right in the middle of it.

"You…you…you _fools!_ " I snarled, at a loss of words. "When did this happen?!"

"Late morning," he wheezed. "I flew here as fast as I could. If we act now, we shall find the Savior and my nestmates, and then we can discuss—"

"I won't discuss anything with _you_ ," I interrupted "Your nest can perish in fire, for all I care. Now get up!"

He gaped at me and lied there, even as I stepped off of him. With a wince, he rolled over and stood on shaking legs, head lowered.

"Savior," he said with surprising confidence, considering how outpowered he was. "We did not act out of malice, nor stupidity. Less than half our nest remains, and all our young have vanished. We have tried unsuccessfully to stop this for almost two moons to no avail. We _need_ a Savior." Real pain flashed through his eyes and shook his voice, "We need _help._ We just want them to come _home._ "

"Save your excuses for someone who cares," I spat.

"Yeah!" Stormfly piped up. "You hurt our humans and nestmates _and_ you took our King! That's not nice!"

"Toothless, what's going on?" Astrid whispered, crouched with her axe readied. "Should I get the Chief? Is it Hiccup?"

I nodded without taking my eyes off of the intruder. She spun on her heel and ran. Stormfly squawked and chased after her, shouting about needing to protect her from the "mean dragons".

The intruder trailed his eyes after them and straightened into a more dignified pose. He met my gaze, eyes half-lidded, and then lowered them to his feet. "We are frightened, Savior," he murmured. "Some of our young can take care of themselves, but many will not survive outside the care of our nestmates. We know not where they are, nor what's become of them. With each day that passes without them, we despair all the more, knowing they very well may be dead."

He sunk deep into an odd bow, one paw straight in front of him and his forehead pressed completely into the grass. "I know we have caused you much pain. I am truly sorry. We saw no other choice, Savior. We need help _now._ "

I leered, scrunching my nose up at him, unwilling to calm from my anger. Excuses were all they were. We had lost our young, too, and _we_ weren't flying about stealing Kings from their nests. Now Hiccup was gone, and…

…Hiccup…

How had he reacted to this?

I grit my teeth and lowered my head. He certainly wouldn't have been as cruel as me, scoffing and wishing death upon the intruder's nest. He would have been doing something actually useful, not wasting time on petty revenge.

Showing my teeth, I squared up and narrowed my eyes at him. "I will not forgive you," I said. "But…but we have to work together, to get Hiccup and all of our nestmates back. Our young have started disappearing as well."

He growled. "Then it is spreading at far more a rapid pace than we expected." He rose, and his eyes were steeled. "I apologize, Savior. We were rash, and all for nothing. But I will make it up to you. I shall tell you all I know, and follow your commands as though you were my King."

I glanced out in the direction of the ocean, but couldn't see it from here.

Hiccup was out there, just out of reach. Just out of sight.

I turned to the intruder. "Get on with it, then!"

 **o.O.o**

The Color-Shifter was just as lost as I was.

All of the young in his nest had disappeared and had been gone for a long time. Around the same time, the nest began to encounter the singing dragons, which were somehow connected to the plumes of fog rising up from the ocean. His King had been working tirelessly to provide meals for his entire nest, only allowing them to leave when he became frightened enough to begin his search for us, the Saviors, a few weeks ago.

They had not an idea for what the singing dragons were or why—only that they overcame their nestmates and that the song was "contagious". It could "infect" nearby dragons, turning them into singing dragons. The singing dragons themselves moved erratically, and they had only been directly encountered by their nest a few times. Almost all of their losses were unseen, their young flying out to explore or hunt and never returning.

The rage of seeing the intruder on our island had faded, leaving me emptier than I thought possible. The loss of my brother only compounded with his presence. Hiccup was so, so close—and then snatched away, leaving me with _this_ dragon instead.

Hiccup would have handled this better. Now half our nest was gone, thrown into a danger none of us quite understood, and it was all my fault. If they died, it would be because of my own foolishness. I was no better than the Color-Shifter's King. As much as it burned me to admit, I'd likely hurt just as many dragons in my desperation as he had.

By the time Astrid returned with the human King, I was hunched over with guilt and shock, wide eyes locked towards the northward seas in desperate search of the fog that supposedly drifted just below the horizon.

"What is it?!" The King demanded. He froze, taking in the sight of the Color-Shifter, and unsheathed his sword.

The Color-Shifter raised a brow. "How welcoming. Do _all_ humans greet dragons like that?"

I raised my lip. "Only humans whose nests you've attacked."

The Color-Shifter actually had the grace to look a little guilty at that.

The King stepped to my side, eyes burning. "Is this one of the dragons that took Hiccup?"

I nodded. The King rolled his shoulders and took a step closer—and I held a wing out to stop him.

He glared first at me and then the intruder, but did not advance further. "Right. We'll need it alive to take us to Hiccup."

I cringed, bracing myself—and then shook my head "no" as deliberately as I could. Taking several steps towards the Color-Shifter, I turned to face the perplexed humans. I pointed the human way at myself and then pointed north towards the ocean. Then I pointed the human way at them and stomped on the ground several times.

"We need a King here to protect our nest."

The King raised his chin, meeting my eyes evenly. "I am not staying here if we know where my son is."

With a short growl, I shook my head and pointed out over the nest. We were standing on a hill that overlooked a significant portion of it, showing all of the damaged wood-caves and scorch marks. Again, I pointed at the King and then at his nest. Facing north, I crouched low and hissed up at the sky as if it were full of intruding dragons all over again.

The King pinned me with a firm stare and advanced to my side. "I am going."

"A rather aggressive human, is he not?" The Color-Shifter hummed. He sat down and groomed his wing, trying so hard to look casual that he started to overdo it. "I'm impressed you understand their wordy language. I can't imagine it would be easy to learn if this is the norm."

"Yeah, our Kings are _way_ smarter than you!" Stormfly squawked, narrowing her eyes at him and lashing her tail. A huge, smug grin grew on her muzzle, and she pressed closer to Astrid and crowed, "Even _I_ know more than you!"

The Color-Shifter stopped "preening" to shoot her a reprimanding look. "Why, for such a small yearling—"

"Argh! _Enough!_ " I snapped. "We are going, and _you_ are staying!" I pointed at the King and stomped the ground multiple times.

"We're gonna save the King!" Stormfly sang.

I whipped towards her. "No! Nobody is going but me! I'm not sending anyone else into this, not when _none_ of them are coming back! And that includes you!" I threw my paw at the confused King again, even though I knew perfectly well that he had no clue what I was saying.

She lowered her head, eyes huge. "But…"

"You will not leave this island! That is an order!"

Stormfly whined, tail swaying and wings fluttering. "B-but I wanna help…"

Astrid cleared her throat, holding up a paw. "Hold on a second. Toothless, I guess I can kinda get why you'd want us to stay. I get that we'd slow you down."

That was not even remotely what I was thinking, but I nodded anyways.

She crossed her paws on her chest and quirked a brow. "But still, you could barely stand a few _hours_ ago. A little bit of sleep isn't gonna change that. What, you think you can just fly out to get Hiccup and be perfectly fine?"

"I'm not about to throw you into danger," I hissed. With a grimace, I looked away and murmured, "I've done enough of that already."

"Hiccup said you couldn't fly well with that," the King reminded me, pointing a paw at the artificial tailtip-fin. "What if you fall? What if you exhaust yourself? I'll not have you fly recklessly into your own death."

I lifted my head, blinking up at him. Not for the first time, I found myself faintly surprised.

The King's kindness towards me the past few days had been odd at best, leaving me confused and a little guilty. Again and again I was surprised by his concerns for me—and unjustly so. He was my ally, someone worth listening to.

He was a King, too.

He was important to Hiccup, too.

The King turned to Astrid. "The ships have been readied since yesterday. We'll launch a small fleet with Toothless and this dragon leading us. That way he can land to rest or if anything goes wrong." He paused. "That is…if you agree, Toothless."

I didn't want them to go, to throw them into the unknown.

But after days of no leads and losing nestmate after nestmate, we had a chance _._

I nodded.

The King grunted in acknowledgment. "Then we set off at once. Astrid, you have to stay here to help with the dragons. Go let your friends know as well."

She looked immensely disappointed, but nodded nonetheless. "Right, Chief. C'mon, Stormfly!" With one last nod at me and a suspicious look at the Color-Shifter, she darted off.

"What?!" Stormfly squeaked. " _Again?_ Come back!"

The two were gone in seconds, leaving me alone with the human king and intruder Color-Shifter.

"So…care to explain all of that?" The Color-Shifter asked.

The King and I shared a look, ignoring him. Without saying anything, we took off into the nest and towards the docks. The Color-Shifter was forced to follow.

"We're leaving at once," I informed him. I frowned, glancing behind me at the tailtip-fin. "And I'm going to need your help."

 **o.O.o**

The floating-trees unfurled their wings and lurched into the bay.

The Color-Shifter and I slid from the cliffside, filling our wings with the wind and rocketing out after them. The air was wild and unsteady here against the cliffs. Already, my wings were dipping wildly from the clashing currents beneath us.

"Now!" I ordered.

A ray of fire swept underneath me, throwing me upwards. I threw my tail behind me and flapped as hard as I could, struggling to gain height. It was no use; without Hiccup on my back to keep me stable, it was almost impossible not to flip over.

"Again!"

More fire. More height. More stable air.

Four more times the Color-Shifter helped me rise. We stopped when the air became smoother and full of thermals, the floating-trees and wood-caves small below.

Even from here, I could see our nestmates staring up at me with fear and sadness in their eyes. They had _begged_ to follow us, but I would not allow it. Many roared encouragements and prayers to the Dragon of the Sun and Dragoness of the Moon. It was a small comfort.

I ripped my eyes away and focused ahead. I did everything I could to maintain a flat gliding position, making sure to give a shallow flap here and there to keep myself from losing altitude. The Color-Shifter swept up beside me, eyeing the artificial tailtip-fin.

"Very impressive," he said. "Although limited in functionality."

"I'd like to see _you_ make one with your own paws," I growled. "Hiccup exhausted himself working on this."

"And his fake wings, I'd assume."

"They're real," I snorted with a roll of my eyes. "If they let him fly, they're wings. Which only makes him all the more incredible."

The Color-Shifter frowned at me, swaying along the thermals. I avidly ignored him, glancing below at the humans.

There were only three floating-trees in total. The King wanted a small, maneuverable group that was at least a little stealthy. There were also not too many healthy, unwounded humans to spare. Not to mention that while we knew the _raiding_ dragons would not return, we had no leads on the _singing_ dragons or the enemy human nests.

"Does he believe in the Dragon of the Sun and Dragoness of the Moon?"

The question was so random that I swerved away and had to correct myself. I steadied my wings and tail and answered, "Of course."

He nodded in approval. "Well, that's good to hear. It would be unfortunate for a Savior not to believe in the gods, with soulfire being a godly power. I still find it incredibly inspiring that you two were granted it, what with what fate befell Sphere."

For once, I agreed with him, but didn't want to give him the satisfaction of it. Instead, I grunted, trailing my eyes across the crashing waves of the ocean. We were flying along at a painfully slow pace, which wasn't helped by the ache still stinging through my limbs.

We flew on in silence…until the Color-Shifter decided that it was too awkward for him.

"It's quite comedic, actually," he babbled. "Almost all of my nestmates thought him a fledgling. It was very taxing to convince them that he was indeed the Savior, and it certainly didn't help that he caught on and played along with it."

I couldn't hide a proud smile at that. "I'm not surprised. Hiccup is the smartest Shadow-Blender I know."

Again he sent me that conflicted, confused look. I was dead-set on not addressing it, but he wasn't.

"…Shadow-Blender, Savior?"

"Yes."

"But…Surely you've noticed he has the body of a human—"

"I know what he _looks_ like!" I snapped.

The Color-Shifter startled, flapping away. I sighed, shaking my head and gazing down at the floating-trees. At the King.

"It's…complicated," I answered, ears drooping. "I know… _we_ know that he has the body of a human. We aren't willfully-ignorant fools, as much as you and the human King would think."

"But…?" The Color-Shifter pressed, ignoring my jab at him.

I flapped my wings, turning my sights ahead. "But very little does it _feel_ like it," I finished. "Hiccup does things no human could ever do, like flying."

"Yet both of you fly by the workings of his own two paws," the Color-Shifter said gently. "A task that I myself could never do, nor you, just as you said earlier."

I didn't know what to say to that—well, I had a _lot_ to say, but most of it was inappropriate—so I leered at him. "Why do you insist on talking about this?"

He sighed, eyes flicking from the distant horizon to the humans below. "Because…the Savior seemed so deeply conflicted on this matter. He was like that even when we first scouted your island. Then, after we... _retrieved_ him—wrongfully, of course—I asked him directly, and I believe my King did as well. He would not—or _could_ not answer."

Hearing this stung more than any lingering pain from the soulfire. Not only because I was not there for him, but also because, as damned as I was to admit it, _I_ probably contributed to it. In always ignoring the human part of him and encouraging the dragon part, had I only made him feel all the more conflicted about everything?

I cringed, looking away. I would not allow the Color-Shifter to see the impact of his words. "So you _were_ the ones who grabbed him on that night? You were the ones who _dropped_ him?"

"W-well…yes. In our defense, I did camouflage myself and fly after him, but I was nearly struck by...well...my apologies, Savior, but _your_ fire."

I snapped my neck towards him, eyes narrowed. Gas flew into my throat.

With great effort, I swallowed it. In a steady, low voice, I growled, "You're lucky I need you."

The Color-Shifter winced away. "Y-yes." Unable to leave himself unexcused, he rambled, "When we spent those first nights scouting your island, we saw how he was always with you. So we reasoned that he could be the human Savior. But after seeing him speak to you and those fledglings, all of us were confused on _what_ he was."

I said nothing—something I had quickly learned made the Color-Shifter extremely uneasy.

Just as expected, the Color-Shifter grimaced at my silence and gave a dainty sniff. "Well, regardless...No need dwelling on such gloomy matters. But I must say…"

He gave a weak chuckle.

"He certainly _does_ have a way of shifting his fate when he wants to."

 **o.O.o**

Hiccup

I really wanted to throw myself back into the fog.

"W-wait!" I stammered, struggling uselessly as burly men and women surrounded me on all sides. Rope was squeezed around my chest and arms, constricting me so much that I felt nauseated and breathless. Grasping hands were pinning my limbs, my shoulders, even my neck. I could hardly hear anything over the thundering of my heart.

The taste of blood on my teeth made me dizzy with sickness. I blinked rapidly as the forms of the Bog Burglars shifted into those of Berk's villagers, the Kill Ring dancing at the edge of my mind's eye.

"I'm sorry!" I gasped, writhing around. "I didn't mean to—it was an accident!"

"Oh, an _accident?_ " Bertha laughed, stepping up to me and staring down at me with just as much intensity as the King. "Just like all those villages you destroyed was an _accident?_ Just like how blastin' one of our own to pieces and draggin' 'im off was an _accident?!_ "

I stopped struggling, my breath leaving me as cold shock crashed through my heart.

Bertha laughed again, but now it was humorless and pained. "Oh, it remembers alright! Ya know _exactly_ what I'm talkin' 'bout, don't'cha?"

"It wasn't…" I began to shake my head. "It wasn't _me._ There—there was a huge dragon that could control us. She _made_ me do it."

"Just like yer makin' those dragons raid all of these villages?" Bertha asked, sweeping her arm out across the ocean. "Decided to have a little check-up on 'em, huh?"

"No! We had nothing to do with that!" I said, trying to wrench around in my bindings and finding absolutely no purchase.

Bertha raised an eyebrow, believing exactly none of what I was saying. "Then why was everyone but Berk attacked?"

My voice shook with desperation, "We were attacked, too— _twice_. That's why I'm here, because they took me."

Bertha pursed her lips and exchanged a look with her tribesmen, crossing her arms. She studied me, searching for a lie.

" _Please_ ," I said. "I-I think I know why they're attacking all the tribes. If we work together, then we can stop it and—"

Bertha and her men laughed.

"So ya want us ta let ya go?" Bertha said. "Send ya on yer merry way back to Berk while we deal with all the raids?" She leaned in, nose-to-nose with me, and growled, "I know ya got _somethin'_ ta do with this."

"I _don't_ ," I said, even though it was a lie. "It's… _something_ else."

She grinned. "And how would ya know that?"

I ducked my head, putting all of my energy into focusing on her eyes, on what she was saying and what _I_ was saying. "Because…I talked to them. And they listened to me."

Bertha tried to hide her surprise, but even I saw it. The hands around me tightened.

"I—I don't know _what_ it is, but…but I can get them to leave you alone," I rushed. "We just…we just have to work _together._ And I can convince them to never fly near your island again. They'll listen to me, I promise."

For a long moment, she searched my eyes for deception. Then Bertha drew away.

"So…" She mused. "You _can_ control them, to some extent."

My eyes widened. "No!" I said. "No. I can just _talk_ to them. I can't force them to do anything. They just listen to me."

She sent me a narrow-eyed look and shook her head. "Well, then that's good ta hear. Put it in the hull with the others. And the Gronckle, too, but put a dart in it first."

"Chief," a man to her right said. "If it's tellin' the truth, wouldn't it be good ta strike a deal with it?"

"I'll get them to leave you alone!" I said, trying to ignore the way all of them called me an "it". "All I want is to go back to Berk. Just sail a little south and you never have to see me again."

Bertha gave a wry smile. "Oh, it's temptin', alright." She waved at her men, and they began to push me across the deck. "But I don't bargain with monsters. And even if I did, I'm afraid we're all still under orders."

The elder let out a sharp yelp. I dug my feet into the deck. The warriors simply picked me up and began to carry me.

"W-wait!" I cried, panic rushing through me. "Just _listen_ to me! I'm not the one sending the raids out!" In a desperate grab for her attention, I said, " They're going to keep happening if you do this!"

"Make sure ya put it in its own cage," Bertha told her warriors. "Keep it away from tha loud ones—can't have _this_ one goin' stupid on us."

They dragged me down into the hull, lit only by a single lantern with a tiny little fire in it. It cast long, dark shadows.

Blank, glazed dragon eyes reflected its light. The sound of the ocean fell away to their humming.

The song.

"No!" I said my chest squeezing with fear. It was making my thoughts buzz, muffled like I was underwater.

A loud squeak, and the cage furthest away from them was opened. The men literally threw me in. I cried out as my bad arm hit first, curling up and hissing.

With a deafening clang, they slammed the cage shut. There was some shuffling, and the forms of several men went past me, dragging the elder in her net. They put her into another cage, this one with two other dragons already in it.

The dragons didn't even flinch, like it never happened.

 _Dragon of the Sun, Hiccup,_ do something! I nearly roared to myself as my thoughts scrambled like darting insects.

"Wait," I gasped, struggling against my bindings. "I'm not…h-hold on! The raids—they'll keep happening if you trap us, they won't know where we went! They'll start looking for us!"

One of them shot an uncertain look at the others, but another gave a gruff laugh.

"Then we'll just capture 'em, just like with these," he said, gesturing at the singing dragons.

I writhed around and managed to sit myself upright and nearly growled, "These dragons in here aren'tthe same as the raiding ones."

"Oh, we know that," the same man from before said. "They've been quite useful. Just throw a wily dragon next ta 'em, and in a little while, it's just as stupid as tha rest of 'em."

A memory flashed before my eyes: the Bog Burglars' ships, singing dragons flying out of them. We'd thought that they had _escaped._ Now I realized that they'd been released towards us, on purpose, so that our nestmates would suffer the same fate.

"No…" I murmured, my mind racing.

"Well, then," the man said. "I'd love ta make a deal with ya, but orders are orders. Have fun with tha beasties!"

He stepped away from my cage and blew the fire out. A beam of light came from the door—only to be shut again, launching me into shadows.

It was freezing. I could barely move. My old wounds lit up as I lurched in my bindings, desperate to escape.

"No…no…" I breathed, clenching my eyes shut. It was pitch-black in here, and yet vivid places and people flashed right in front of me, just like I was there. Cold dread crept down my spine. I had to fight them off—I couldn't let these shadows sweep over me, not here, now now—!

The Kill Ring. Dad standing over me, nursing his wounded arm after I'd bitten him. Waiting to die. Hearing dozens of dragons killed for sport. Losing contact with Toothless, being left alone in unbearable silence.

There was still blood on my teeth.

 _No!_ I fought the shadows as my chest burned and the ropes bit down like vipers. _It's not real!_

I shuddered like I'd fallen into a lake of ice, curling up as best as I could. " _It is fine_ ," I gasped. " _It is fine. It is fine. It is fine…_ "

 **o.O.o**

My head was buzzing, my eyelids fluttering.

Familiar. Close. The song was like a reflection turned to sound, lost and empty. The singing dragons were filled with it, but persisted nonetheless, carrying on no matter how hard it was. It muffled everything else, pushing it all away, hiding it just out of perception.

Time passed.

I was still curled up and shivering when a pained moan broke through the song, snapping me out of my daze.

Lifting my head, I worked my mouth several times before croaking, " _Hello?_ "

A pause.

The elder wheezed out a greeting that melted into an apology, letting out a mournful sigh. Her voice was faint and tight with pain.

" _You okay?!_ " I gasped. Getting control of myself, I dragged out, " _Toothless…know…you…here?_ "

" _No_ ," she groaned. " _…and…no._ "

I wriggled in my bindings once more. It worked out just as great as it did last time, which was not at all. Fear swept through me all over again, and I closed my eyes and took in several deep breaths.

" _King_ ," the elder whispered. She went on to ask me something, but her voice was too muffled by the singing dragons.

" _Me okay,_ " I said. " _Nest King want soulfire._ "

She sighed and repeated the same question as before; she hadn't understood me. I was tempted to speak in Norse so at least _one_ of us knew what the other was saying, but I didn't want the Bog Burglars to listen in and draw conclusions. They'd already done enough of that, and it had landed me down here and probably further and further away from Toothless with each passing minute.

" _Nest…King…want…soulfire_ ," I said.

There was a shift in the singing dragons' song, just barely noticeable enough to be detected. I hadn't even registered it before they went right back to it.

The elder spit out a curse. Her words were slurred together; the dart had really done some damage.

" _You okay?_ " I asked again.

For a moment, she said nothing. Then, in a thin voice, "… _no._ "

A great weight fell upon me. The hairs on my neck stood on end. " _W-what?_ "

She gasped for breath. Her words were lost in how long she dragged them out, like she was drifting to sleep and couldn't focus on working her tongue correctly.

 _Not again! Not again!_ I thought frantically. Trapped in the dark, unable to help, listening to her suffer—it was just like the Kill Ring, just like those excruciating and long hours that had filled my dreams with nightmares.

" _Talk!_ " I gasped, both for her and myself. " _Talk more!_ _Where our nestmates?_ "

Her words were too sluggish. All I could understand was the fear and confusion beneath the weariness, but it seemed so distant; like she _knew_ to be scared but was too tired to be.

" _Where Toothless?_ " I asked in desperation. " _Where...where human King?_ "

The elder growled, shuffling around in her cage. When she spoke, some of the life had returned, sending a weak flutter of hope through my heart. " _…nest…safe…_ "

It was too vague, the singing dragons too loud. I tried to paw at my head, only for pain to shoot through my arms in a firm reminder that I was still tied up. " _Home?_ " I gasped into the shadows. " _They okay?_ "

" _Yes_ ," she said. She spoke more, and as she did, her words slowed down and began to drag out again.

In just a single sentence, her speaking went from normal to lethargic.

" _Elder?_ "

A new voice joined in the humming, soft and weary and almost uncertain.

" _Elder!_ " I snapped.

" _Huh?_ " She gasped. She growled again, now with much more fear. She began to rush her slurred speech, trying hopelessly to warn me about…about…

A frightened hiss slid between my teeth. " _What? No understand._ "

" _No…no…_ " More shuffling, a weak thump. " _No…hm…_ "

I threw myself around, wrenching against the ropes no matter how useless it was. " _Elder!_ " I whisper-yelled. " _Please!_ "

She broke off her humming again with another growl.

Her sad, resolute sigh might as well have been as loud as thunder, it was so sudden and unwelcome.

" _No!_ " I managed to wriggle around and kick the cage with my prosthetic leg, sending painful vibrations up through my leg. "Agh! _Please no! Listen to me! Me talk now, okay? No leave me, okay?!_ "

"… _o-k-a-y_ ," she breathed.

My heart was pounding so loud that I barely heard her. I tried to swallow, but my mouth was too dry.

" _It is fine_ ," I whimpered. " _You okay. Me promise. Nestmate go here and save us. You need to talk, okay?_ "

" _Hm…_ "

" _Elder!_ " In frantic desperation, I ordered, " _Me you King! Me help you! Listen to me!_ "

The elder sighed again, and with the same breath she drifted back into the humming.

It pounded against my ears like hammer-strikes, rattling me down to my core. " _No!_ " I commanded her. " _No! Stop!_ "

She did—for a second.

It was getting harder to breathe. I blinked rapidly, like if I did it enough, then I would be able to magically see.

" _It is fine!_ " I lied. " _It is fine! Listen to me!_ "

Her voice blended with the song so seamlessly that I struggled to tell them apart. Focusing on it was almost impossible; the more I turned my attention on it, the further it slunk out of sights, leaving me confused and disorientated.

" _No…please…no leave me here…"_

The song only intensified, swirling through the hull and creeping into my thoughts.

I cried out to her as loud as I dared for several minutes. It was only when my throat went dry and my entire body was shaking from the stress and pain that it finally got through to me. There was nothing I could do.

Again.

Despair tore me to pieces, useless and broken. I grit my teeth so tight that pain flashed through my jaw and curled into a ball.

The song roared around me.

I was alone.


	16. Chapter 15

**Hey, everyone!**

 **Sorry that this one is a little late. But hopefully everyone is done with their finals, and has loads of free time to read now!**

 **I'd like to thank** **Samateus-Taal, Blocksmasher2, NightShadow9558, CrisDLZ, SAI1, Brenne, xSkiesOfBlue11, Nacktgranate, Varghul, TheFuriousNightFury, Crysist, and all anonymous reviews for leaving reviews in these trying times known as finals. I'd also like to thank my beta Crysist for all your help even in the middle of all this craziness!**

 **Without further ado, please enjoy! I hope you have a great day, and as always, reviews and greatly appreciated!**

* * *

 **Chapter 15**

Hiccup

" _It is fine_ ," I chanted, focusing all of my concentration on the sound of each syllable, of each breath, of _anything_ that wasn't that horrible song. " _It is fine. It is fine. It is—_ "

 _SCREECH!_

I cut myself off with a gasp, snapping my eyes open.

The light stung. The squeal of the cages opening was even worse.

The singing dragons, elder included, stood idly by as their cages were opened, escape just within grasp. Seeing them standing there with freedom inches away was _agonizing_.

" _Fly!_ " I hissed at them, hoping beyond hope that they could magically break free now that they had a chance.

They didn't—they _couldn't._

One by one a rope was draped around their necks and they were lead out. I could do nothing but watch as each one was dragged just past my cage, just out of reach. Every passing dragon cast a shadow over me, and with each brief bout of darkness, the emptiness of the hull seemed to close further in.

They Bog Burglars went for the elder last. She stood in her opened cage with blank eyes, staring right through me.

" _Elder, fly!_ " I whispered, my voice shaking with disbelief at what I was seeing, at the sight of such a powerful and proud dragon reduced to _this._

They led her out like she was a dumb pet, yielding to the slightest tug on her leash. A second passed, and the Bog Burglars tromped back into the hull, making a beeline for my cage. My breath hitched.

I began to hum, just loud enough for them to hear.

"Well, would'ya look at that!" The man from before said. "It _does_ affect it. I thought it hadn't fer a few seconds."

"Guess it was too quiet with all the other dragons around," a woman guessed. "Welp, anyways…"

The cage squealed as it was opened. I locked every limb in place, so tense my muscles felt moments from tearing. It took an incredible amount of concentration not to stare at them, not to curl away, not to follow the movements of their hands to make sure they hadn't drawn a weapon.

The woman stepped in and crouched beside me, reaching out to grab me. My breath caught, and at the same time, she cringed and paused. She let her hands hover over me for a moment before pulling back. "Can we…can we muzzle it?" She asked uneasily.

"Bah!" The man laughed. "Listen ta it. It's just as dumb as tha rest of 'em."

"R-Right…"

That was my only warning before she snatched me up and lifted me to my feet. I wanted like nothing else to wrench away, to bare my teeth and _hiss_ at them. Against all instincts, I let my eyes unfocus and poured all of my strength into keeping up the fake song and holding still.

A loop of rope was pulled around my shoulders. A light tug.

I tried to take a step forward, but the bindings already in place were too tight.

"Let's untie those," the man said.

"But—but sir—!"

"I promise ya, Helga, it's not gonna bite ya."

"Tell that ta Mogodon!"

"Well, it's just a surface wound. Probably won't even leave a scar. A shame, really…"

 _Great Dragon of the Sun. Don't stop humming_ , I told myself. _Don't stop humming. Just keep humming._

The blurred forms crept closer, so out of focus that they was distorted by the light behind. The ropes around my torso and legs were loosened and removed. When they were done, all that was left was the rope binding my wrists in front of me and the rope leashed around my neck and shoulders.

Another tug. I swallowed and followed obediently. Every inch of me screamed to wrestle away, to climb up somewhere high and leap into the air.

 _Don't stop humming._

We stepped onto the deck. Cold air erupted from all directions, the wind furious as it blasted us with powerful gusts that smelled of rain. It was late in the night, the moon already sinking from its highest point. The ship had slowed to a meandering drift, its sails closed and bound. Firelight cast long shadows across the deck.

...and onto another ship. It was just as fancy and foreign as the one we were on now. A sturdy plank connected the Bog Burglar's ship to the new one.

I blinked, almost letting up the humming.

Their allies. Bertha had threatened us with the Bog Burglar's allies. That was where they got their new ship—the very same one we were standing on.

The rest of the dragons were lined up like they were being held at an auction. Bertha was standing beside a black-haired man just at the plank, her arms crossed and a smug grin settled across her face.

The man carefully inspected each dragon, stepping around them with a finger to his chin. He didn't seem too happy, huffing and sighing like this whole show was a huge inconvenience. He even seemed a little uncertain. For a long moment, he stood in front of the line and studied them, his sharp eyes glimmering in the flickering firelight.

With a sigh, he waved a go-ahead for them to cross. Bertha nodded in approval and motioned her men, who were eager to lead the others onto the new ship.

That only left one last prisoner on Bertha's ship: me.

Bertha motioned at us, and the Bog Burglars holding me in place tugged at the ropes. I paused, my thoughts swarming and unsteady. Who was this man? Why was he here? Why were the Bog Burglars trading with him? Where was he planning on taking us?

Like it or not, I was going to find out soon enough.

I allowed myself to get dragged along as every part of me screamed to fight back, as the long shadows coating the deck seemed to grow darker and darker. The man stepped forward to meet us. He stopped just close enough for me to make out his green eyes and some weird-looking tattoos on his chin.

I kept my gaze locked straight forward, even "singing" a little louder to really sell it.

"Feel free to cut that out any time now," he drawled.

"W-what?!" Helga yelped, dropping the rope and twisting to face me.

"Do you really believe that?" The stranger chuckled and turned to me. "Come on now, let up with it already. Aren't you getting a headache from all that?"

My shoulders drooped. With a sullen sigh, I said, "You caught me."

Both of the Bog Burglars leapt away from me. Shooting them and the stranger apprehensive looks, I shouldered the rope around my torso off. It had been tied so loosely around my arms that it took hardly any effort to get it to fall straight to the ground. Before they could try to grab it, I stepped over it, making sure to clutch my arms—and wings—as tight to my sides as I could.

The man was already circling me, a finger to his chin. I watched him carefully as he went around once, then twice, without saying a single thing.

I clenched my teeth at the calculating way he stared at me, like I was just a _thing_ to be sold. He stopped directly in front of me, and it took almost all my self control not to square my feet and lower my head, not to wrinkle my nose and narrow my eyes.

"Are you done?" I finally rasped, unable to tolerate that greedy stare for any longer.

"I suppose so," he said with a casual shrug. "I must say, that was pretty clever. But, you know…" He gestured at all of me. "I was expecting something bigger. Are you sure this is the one?"

"Oh, yes, we kidnapped some random lad from one of tha other tribes and he just played along with it," Bertha said with fake cordiality. Rolling her eyes, she snapped, "Of course we know it's tha one!"

"Of course, of course," the stranger said, holding his hands up. "Not that I find you _untrustworthy_ , my dear Bertha, but of course you know that I need proof. Can't just take some random boy with me, after all."

"He literally flew towards our ships, bit one of my men, and spoke ta the dragons," Bertha hissed. "Is that not proof enough?"

The man shot me a disbelieving look. "He _flew?_ "

"U-uh, I don't know what she's talking about," I said. "How can people _fly?_ "

Bertha was so flabbergasted that she gaped like a fish, pointing wordlessly and all but shooting fire from her eyes. "What are you—are you—yes he _did!_ "

"No, I didn't!" I said with wide eyes.

Bertha ripped a mace from her belt. "Why you little—"

"Woah, woah! Easy now!" The man held up a hand to her and stepped between us. He waited until Bertha lowered her weapon before returning his attention to me. "What's your take then, lad?"

I narrowed my eyes up at him. "Who even are you?"

"Answering a question with a question. Annoying." He shrugged. "But understandable." He went down into a grandiose bow, complete with twirling of his wrist and broad, swooping gestures.

"Is this really necessary—" Bertha huffed.

"I am Eret, son of Eret!" He raised himself to his full height, towering over me. "The most skilled dragon trapper alive."

My heart sunk to my stomach. A dragon trapper.

I had just watched the elder get put on his ship.

Narrowing my eyes, I shook my head. "Not quite."

Eret set me with a mildly-annoyed look before regaining his cool composure. "Oh, really?" He leaned down to my eye level like he was talking to a little kid. "And what gives you that idea?"

I nodded at the singing dragons. "The 'most skilled dragon trapper alive' is the thing doing _that._ "

Something flickered across his eyes. He straightened up from his overdramatic position. "Ah, of course! You mean the loud ones?" Eret mused, glancing over his shoulder. "Yes, they're quite a pain in my neck." He turned suspicious eyes on me and stepped closer. "You wouldn't have any idea what's making them do that, now would ya, lad?"

I forced myself not to shrink away from his looming figure. "No," I growled. "I don't know anything about it."

Except that it was contagious. That the singing dragons could drag others down with them. That it was related to the fog somehow. That the old King feared it more than anything, enough to send raids throughout the entire archipelago just for the slightest chance of fixing it.

Eret's eyes flicked up and down my body. He bent over so that he was at my eye level again, so close that I could smell the mead on his breath.

"Why do I get the feeling you're not being honest with me, lad?" He said quietly. "Come now, it seems we're allies here. We both would like to stop whatever's doing _that_ , right?" He pointed at the song dragons. "So please, let me ask you one more time…what do you know about it?"

Frustration swept through me. This was getting out of control, and all because I was saying the wrong things. "Nothing!" I said. "All I know is that it does _that_ to any dragon that hears it, just like you. I can't help you."

"Hm." Eret drew away. "Can't you ask the dragons why they're doing that?"

"Can't you?" I asked. My voice shook a little, and I forced in a deep breath to calm my nerves. "I don't know why you think I can, but I can't speak to them."

It wasn't even a complete lie; only Toothless could understand me most of the time. Not even the _elder_ could understand me, even when she needed me the most.

"Yes, it can!" Bertha seethed. "That is the dragon-boy! Everyone here can give you their word! It's lyin'!"

"Words mean nothing!" Eret said. "I need solid proof, or it's _my_ head that's under the cutting board. My master doesn't exactly believe in third chances."

"T-they just grabbed me out of nowhere!" I interjected. "I was just minding my own business, and they forced me on their ship."

"You! Were! _Flyin'!_ " Bertha shouted in stunned disbelief, waving her arms around. "Just look at it!"

"I have been," Eret said, turning around to send her a look. "I don't see magical wings."

"Lift its arms up!" Bertha commanded, stomping right up to him so that she could stare him down.

Eret turned around, grabbed my bound wrists, and pulled them up.

"…Wow," he said.

Bertha stared in confusion and fury. I flicked my eyes between her and Eret and wrenched my arm away.

While they were busy arguing, I had managed to tuck my wings in even with bound wrists. So instead of wings filling the space below my arms, there was a whole lot of nothing.

Eret scowled and twisted towards Bertha. "Bertha, I'll have you know that I am on a _very_ tight schedule and I _do not_ appreciate you wasting my time!"

Bertha seethed and snapped her head towards her men. "Mogodon! Come over here!"

A burly man crept closer. Without being told, he lifted his arm and brandished his wound to show teeth marks. _Human_ teeth marks.

Eret turned and gave me a look that was both impressed and disgusted. "You actually bit 'im?"

"I-I didn't have any weapons!" I stammered. "They were surrounding me, I panicked!"

Again, he studied my face for a lie—and found none.

"Where are you from, lad?" He asked slowly, squinting at me.

"Are you going to take me back?" I returned.

"Hmf. No. I don't have time for that." Eret turned to Bertha and said, "I do not appreciate you bringing random boys to me, Bertha. I have half the mind not to pay you."

"You _heard_ it!" She shouted, throwing a hand at me. "It was making sounds just like a dragon! It even knows about the stupid ones!"

"That is _not_ proof!" Eret said. "If I am personally not convinced, then I will not take him or pay you!"

"Then I'll just have to show ya the beast that it is," Bertha hissed venomously. She nodded at her warriors around her.

Metal screeches filled the air as weapons were drawn. Both Eret and I froze.

" _Charge it!_ " Bertha hollered, pointing her mace at me.

The air filled with battle cries. I stumbled backwards, but I was surrounded on all sides, my hands were still tied up, and not a single person or dragon was there to help me.

The Bog Burglars rushed me.

"Wait—!" I cried.

An explosion tore through the deck, filling the frigid, dark night with a vivid inferno.

 **o.O.o**

Toothless

I barely made it on the floating-tree, gouging my claws in so I didn't tumble right off of it and into the ocean. The floating-trees were moving fast and the ocean was as black as my scales under the night sky. Landing in the freezing ocean could very well be a death sentence.

My limbs shook and spots filled my vision as I panted for breath. I had to sit down.

"Are you well, Toothless?" The King asked. A warm, light touch brushed against my shoulder.

I nodded, too out of breath to speak. Suddenly I was incredibly grateful for Astrid forcing me to allow the King to come. A shudder crept down my spine at the alternative; of me making yet _another_ foolish decision andfalling, exhausted, to my death below.

The Color-Shifter much less worse for wear; instead of landing, he chose to drift above on the thermals, unwilling to even _touch_ a human object. Still, true to his name, he swept overhead and altered his scale colors so that they were neon orange, stark against the midnight-blue sky. With one last, uncertain glance down at me, he led the way. The Vikings adjusted their course accordingly.

The King sat down at my side, eyes locked on the Color-Shifter.

For a long time, the floating-trees were silent, save for the gentle waves of the ocean and whistle of the wind. I rested my head on my paws, my eyes heavy. I had to keep up my strength—but I would be damned if I fell asleep while Hiccup struggled out in this cold, dark sea, so close and yet so far.

"What will I say to him?"

I blinked drowsily, glancing at the King. His shoulders were drooping and his face was cast in shadows. He stared avidly at his paws. Then, realizing that he was expecting me to respond, I made a general sort of "confused noise" and tipped my head to the side.

He gave a deep breath, looking back up at the stars and the vivid Color-Shifter. "A simple apology isn't enough. I hurt him, when I promised him I never would again."

"You aren't giving Hiccup enough credit," I said. I shuffled around and hesitated.

Before I could lose my nerve, I shifted closer and rubbed my cheek against his arm.

The King stiffened. After a moment, he raised his paw, letting it rest on my forehead.

We sat in silence. Eventually, I lay my head down again, the King's paw still a warm pressure between my ears.

The lull of the ocean waves and the soft wind made my eyes heavy. I struggled to stay alert as my vision unfocused, as the odd calmness began to overtake me...

I didn't realize that I had begun to doze off until I was snapped awake by a distant shout.

"Hiccup?!" I gasped, jolted upright. The King flinched.

Not a breath later, the Color-Shifter swooped over the floating-trees, his fire glowing between his fangs.

"I see humans!" He snarled. "The very same ones that have plagued my nest! We should strike them at once, Savior! Quickly, please!"

"Hold on!" I said, lurching into a sitting position. "We're looking for _Hiccup_ , not a fight. Where are they?"

He threw his head out towards the open ocean.

I couldn't see anything from here—they were too far out. The sky was dotted with clouds, the ocean vast and unmarred by islands. Thank the Dragoness of the Moon, there was no fog.

"What is it?!" The King asked, hope filling his voice.

I shrugged and asked the Color-Shifter, "Are they near where you lost Hiccup?"

He shook his head. "I am uncertain. We are close, but I do not know if it was exactly there. Regardless, those humans deserve to sink below the ocean, where the gods cannot see them."

"Hold on," I repeated. "Camouflage yourself and fly out to them. Try to see if they have Hiccup or your nestmates, and then _come back_ before you do anything." I narrowed my eyes. "As Savior, that is an order. Do not attack them without reporting back to me!"

He threw his head with a snort. "Very well, Savior."

The Color-Shifter melted from sight.

I remained pessimistic. Hiccup had been traveling with _dragons_ , not humans. Why would he be with some? Regardless, I could only hope the Color-Shifter actually listened to me. If he attacked some random humans in blind rage, we would lose our only lead. As much as he was an unlikable idiot, he was a _necessary_ unlikable idiot.

We waited. An eternity seemed to pass.

I was beginning to curse the damn fool when, _finally_ , I heard the sound of frantic flapping.

The Color-Shifter materialized above once more and plopped onto the floating-tree, panting for breath. A few humans were too close in his comfort zone, and he growled at them until they backed off.

"Savior…" He shook his head, wings and tail drooping. "We were…we were wrong. I am so sorry. Please forgive us, Savior. Please forgive us."

The world seemed to stop around me. "W-what?" I breathed.

He lifted his head to look at me, and the broken and distraught glint in his eyes made me sway with fear.

"The human Savior," he breathed. "He's there. He's on those human devices, but he's—he's taken by the song, Savior. I heard him singing. He's lost to us."

My heart flew to life. Within a single breath, I was more awake than I had been in days, filled with life as if the soulfire had never afflicted me.

Hiccup.

They had Hiccup. They had Hiccup.

"Let's go!" I snarled, launching at the wings of the floating-tree. I clambered on top and craned my neck down.

The King met my eyes, both alarmed and hopeful.

I nodded to him and threw my head back the way the Color-Shifter had come. Without waiting a second longer, I turned out to the ocean and opened my wings.

"S-Savior, wait!"

"Fire! Now!" I ordered. Without waiting, I leapt off the floating-tree and above the pitch-black ocean.

He did as he was told, sending a thick stream underneath me that allowed me to rise far up into the air. With a flurry of wingbeats, the Color-Shifter rose to my side, his eyes huge with fear. "Savior, please, there is no saving him! Trust me, I have seen too many of my own fall into the same trap! We need to tell the King!"

I leered at him, flapping as fast as I could to accelerate. "How many floating-trees are there? How many humans?"

"This is folly!" He growled. "I cannot sit idly by as you fly to your own death!"

I immediately lost my patience. "Answer my questions!" I roared. "I command you!"

The Color-Shifter raised a lip to show teeth. "Two," he spat. "Two human contraptions, with many more much further out. I don't know how many humans there are."

I spared a moment to consider our options.

"Alright," I said. "I will strike first. In the confusion, _you_ need to grab Hiccup and fly away as fast as possible."

"And be taken up in the song?" The Color-Shifter demanded. "This is suicide, Savior!"

"Very well. Then I will strike first and get him." I glanced behind me back at the floating-trees. "The humans will not be close enough at this rate, but…but…"

Something directly above the floating-trees caught my eyes. I snapped my head up just in time to see a flicker of color dart between the clouds, much higher than we were flying.

"Did you see that?"

The Color-Shifter was staring upwards as well, his anger replaced by apprehension. "They didn't look like…" He trailed off, his jaw set. "I will be right back, Savior."

With a quick flutter, he lifted himself up into the canopy of clouds, melting into them like a raindrop into a lake.

I let him go with a snort. Whatever it was, the Color-Shifter could investigate it. I had much more important matters to attend to.

Taken up in the song or not, I was getting my brother back. And I would scream at him until my breath left me to snap him out of it.

With a growl, I shifted my tail and began to pump my wings as fast as I could. The air immediately became a physical enemy, throwing me back and forth. I rocked wildly, just barely keeping myself from tipping over. It was reckless and _stupid_ , charging unsteadily over a black ocean with the only dragon who could help me out of sight.

But it got me to the floating-trees within minutes.

I flared my wings and let myself gradually slow down, returning to a slow and silent gliding position.

Two floating-trees, the silhouettes of several more out on the horizon. Fire dotted the wooden platforms, held up on sticks in the paws of humans. There was a big crowd of them, and just beside them were _dragons._

Even from here, I could hear that damned song. Loss. Emptiness. Hiccup.

 _Hiccup!_

My heart leapt into my throat. Everything fell away—the cold, the unstable air, the song, the danger.

He was there. He was there! Hiccup was there! I could see him!

 _Oh, gods! Oh, gods!_ I nearly wept. _Oh, please, please—!_

I threw my wings down, rushing forward as fast as I could. Thirty seconds. It would take me thirty seconds to get there. Thirty seconds to dive. Thirty seconds to blast those damned humans to pieces. Thirty seconds to bring him back to me.

It wasn't enough.

Just as I sped up, the humans threw themselves at my brother.

" _NO!_ " I screamed in horror and outrage, filling my throat with gas.

And at the very same moment, a familiar voice shrieked, "No, _wait!_ "

A blurred form whistled right past me, diving from above. An explosion hit the floating-tree and sent brilliant orange flames spiraling into the sky.

The Color-Shifter appeared at my side. "My apologies, Savior! There were too many of them for me to control!"

" _Too many?!_ " I gasped. "What do you—"

Right on que, Stormfly banked around me with—with—

"See! I can help!" She bragged. "All of us can!"

Perched on her back, eyes wide with terror, just barely hanging on and soaked to the bones, _Astrid_ shrieked, "Toothless, make her _stop!_ "

Of all the times for that yearling to disobey me—!

Gods damn it, there was no time!

"Help me get Hiccup!" I commanded, pulling my wings in and diving.

Fire blazed across the floating-tree, sending humans scurrying about desperately trying to smother it. In all the chaos, I spotted Hiccup...just as he thrust his paws into the fire.

" _HICCUP!_ " I screamed.

He jolted and looked up in shock, his eyes huge and intelligent and aware. " _Toothless?_ " He mouthed, amazed.

Our eyes met.

That very same flicker from before burst to life, filled with joy and relief.

" _TOOTHLESS!_ " Hiccup cried. He wrenched his paws from the fire and snapped a now-flaming rope off of his wrists.

He hadn't even taken a single step before a black-furred human burst from the flames. Hiccup jolted away, but the human was too fast, snatching him up in his claws.

But _I_ was even faster.

With a snarl, I sent a fireblast just above the floating-tree. The force of the explosion sent any nearby human reeling, some even slipping and falling. Not a moment later, I ripped my wings open and threw my tail down.

I hit the floating-tree hard and rolled. Without wasting a second, I gathered my feet underneath me, let loose a shriek that would send the dead fleeing, and charged—

The human met my eyes, holding a wildly-struggling Hiccup in one paw and a sword to his throat in the other.

Explosions burst around us. Shrapnel and embers stung at my hide. All three of us stood as still as if we had been frozen.

"Well," the human said breathlessly. "Now _that's_ what I call proof."

I roared and lunged. Hiccup ripped himself free.

The human turned and ran, disappearing into the rising, charcoal-black smoke that was starting to consume the floating-tree.

" _Up up up up up!_ " I hollered, nearly knocking Hiccup over in my haste. He wasted not a breath, throwing himself onto my back.

I crouched and threw myself into the air. The updrafts filled my wings.

"Darts! NOW!" A female human shouted.

" _No!_ " Hiccup gasped, leaning far to the side. I twisted in the direction as fast as I could.

Several small, colorful woodclaws shot just past me. Hiccup threw his weight aside again, and I followed without hesitation. More flew right past.

"FIRE!"

" _Roll!_ " Hiccup screeched, pulling to the left.

I gave a sharp twist, steering my tail to the side. The updrafts began to throw us aside, tipping us backwards towards the floating-trees. Hiccup continued pushing his weight to the side, and I followed through. We spun completely around just as a net swooped past us, mere feet from tangling in my wings.

It smacked right into the Color-Shifter as he dove for another strike. He gave a terrified shriek and fell. Humans swarmed him like ants, even as Stormfly and whipped right past him.

Three more dragons followed her, and I almost groaned with dismay. It was one thing for Stormfly to disobey as per the usual—but the others?

" _Look out!_ " Hiccup suddenly shouted, pulling as hard as he could to the side.

A great force slammed into me, wrapping around my wings and tail. With two horrified shouts, we were yanked from the sky, dragged down by another net.

The impact was painful—not that I cared. The moment we landed, I shot my fire in the general direction of "in front of me", where it blazed through the net and smashed into a piece of the floating-tree. Hiccup threw the net off of our heads and began to rip it off of my wings and paws.

The humans that remained shouted and sprinted towards us. Stormfly swooped upon them, breathing a stream of fire to block their path while Astrid just barely managed to hold on. She flapped right back out of sight, the poor human on her back screaming ignored commands. Right at her tail, the yearling Hookfang darted to the side of the floating-tree, flinging his fire into the waters.

"This is _not_ how I imagined this going," Hiccup grunted, yanking the rope from of my midsection.

I snorted in agreement and wriggled my way out more, leaving the net only tangled up in my tail. "I was expecting more hugs and less fire. But I'm not going to complain for once!" I threw my tail around back and forth—only for it to pass over some stray fires, sending the net up in flames.

" _No!_ " Hiccup squeaked, rushing to untangle it more. " _Your tailfin!_ "

My tailfin? It would be fine, it was—oh. _Oh!_

"Damn!" I cursed, flinging my tail back and forth and smacking a couple of humans in the process. The net burned a second longer, and I flung it off as enough of it fizzled away. " _Okay, up! Up! Up!_ "

Except Hiccup _didn't_ get on. Instead, he faced the group of humans pinning the Color-Shifter. He sent me The Look—the "I've set my mind to this and will not change it for anything" one that we _really_ did not need right now.

As loathed as I was to stay a moment longer, he was right; we couldn't simply abandon the Color-Shifter here, to be tortured and killed by human paws.

The Color-Shifter was merely a winglength away. I filtered gas into my throat, ready to send the humans to a quick, fiery demise.

"ENOUGH!"

Everyone whipped towards the voice. Silence fell upon the brief battle, the only sound punctuating the stillness being the fire eating away at the floating-tree and the lapping of the ocean waves.

The black-furred human had returned—and in his paws, he held two dragons captive in ropes. _Song_ dragons.

My eyes settled on the elder Hum-Wing, and a cold rush of horror swept upon me. My mouth fell open, despair darkening the world around me as I stared straight into the soulless, pitiless truth of what I had done to our nestmates.

Already I could feel the toll of the song on me—a kind of cloudiness of my thoughts.

Hiccup launched himself at me and clamped his paws around my head, covering my ears to muffle the sound. I grit my teeth as it vibrated through the air, still a physical thing despite the aid.

" _Coward!_ " I hissed, raising my wings. "Release her!"

"What are you doing?!" Hiccup gasped, anger creeping into his own voice at seeing our elder used as a pawn. "Leave them alone! They can't even fight back!"

'Eret' glared. His eyes flicked upwards at our looming nestmates above. "But _they_ can."

He slapped the other singing dragon with his paw. The poor thing gave a sharp screech, flying up into the air—and straight towards Stormfly and the others.

I only saw them for a split second. Stormfly and Meatlug both had their humans on their backs, and the other two were carrying theirs. Both human and dragon froze as the song dragon launched straight towards them.

"Stormfly, Hookfang, fly away!" I commanded.

They scattered, desperate to distance themselves. Astrid gave a sharp cry that quickly faded.

'Eret' took hold of the distraction, placing himself just behind the elder so that I could not shoot my fire at him without burning the elder as well. " _You two_ will be coming with me!" The human commanded. "Or I'll just set this one up right next to your friends, starting with _that_ one." With that, he pointed.

The Color-Shifter was pinned down at damn near every joint, his snout wrapped up so tight that he could not open it and his wings and tail crushed underneath human paws. He looked between the human and the singing elder. His eyes filled with terror.

"No!" Hiccup gasped. "Look, you don't understand— _whatever_ that is, we don't have anything to do with it!"

'Eret' grinned. "Well, then, it seems we're on the same page here!"

I shook my head to block out the sound, snarling. Hiccup's grip tightened, offering a little more relief.

"If we really are, then just _listen_ for a second!" Hiccup hissed, his voice seeping with frustration. "Please, just—just put her somewhere safe, and we can _talk_ about this. We don't have to fight."

The human frowned almost like he was considering it. "Sorry, lad. Don't take this too personally."

With a shove, he began to take the elder even closer to us. We were only a short distance from the Color-Shifter, meaning that the closer he took the elder towards him, the closer _we_ were to the song. I clenched my teeth against the onslaught of disorientation, the fuzziness of my thoughts, the way it seemed to sweep away the entire world under a fog. Even Hiccup seemed to sway a little, clinging to me like my very life depended on it.

The Color-Shifter brought me out of it with a muffled squeal. He writhed around with eyes flashing and smoke pluming between his lips. His eyes never left the elder, so huge and terrified that it made him look like a fledgling.

" _No!_ " Hiccup shouted. His voice seemed further away, his paws clenched around me hardly there. "Stop! Just _wait!_ "

"So will you come peacefully?" 'Eret' asked. "Or do I need to force your hand even further?"

"You don't need to _capture_ us," Hiccup growled. "We can work this out together—but I can tell you right now, that if you trap us, if you go through with this, then we won't do _anything_ to help you."

The whole world blanked out. I lurched in place, blinking rapidly as everything around suddenly seemed...not there. Gone. With great effort, I forced myself to focus, to meet that damned human's eyes and let loose a shamefully-frightened snarl.

If Hiccup let me go, even at this range...

'Eret' seemed to come to the same realization as myself, baring his teeth in a disgusting smile. " _Help_ me? Don't get me wrong, lad, but I think the one you should _really_ be trying to help is your friend there."

He glanced behind us and nodded.

I heard Hiccup's cry of pain first, quickly followed by what felt like a lightning-strike in my side.

By the time I'd whipped around, Hiccup had already grabbed the little woodclaw and ripped it out of my hide. He then twisted and did the same for himself.

Nausea came first. Then disorientation. I swayed where I stood, my ears and side-frills vibrating in-tune with the song. Hiccup leaned heavily against me, no longer covering my ears but using me as a support.

A moment passed—we were on the ground—how did we…?

"Coward," I murmured, dragging my wing over Hiccup. "You coward…"

"Alright, lads, we've done it! Now get those two away from each other before it actually does some damage!" 'Eret' ordered, his voice drifting further away. "And get those Sharkworms moving, we got a lot of ground to cover and we need to get out of here before…"

 **o.O.o**

Everything was foggy.

It was a choking, muffling hold, clamping tight on my ears to dissipate sound and filling my mouth and nose. My body was as heavy and inflexible as stone, leaving me frozen in place.

The ground was lurching up and down. Every now and then something creaked and moaned, echoing hauntingly throughout the cavern. Judging from the sounds of them, the area was very large. Dull thumps came from above, like distant thunder out over the ocean.

At the very end of the cavern, I could hear it—I could hear _them._

I squeezed my eyes shut in a futile attempt to block it out. Yet the sound was intoxicating, drawing my attention ever closer into its midst. The more I tried to ignore it, the more it snatched up my attention, dominating my every thought. Everything else seemed to melt away in its presence. It swallowed me up like a wave cresting overhead, taking me up into its sheer, lonely, hollow _emptiness_.

It was so consuming that I didn't hear the voice besides me for a long time.

" _Toothless?_ " He whimpered, his voice seeping with dread. _"Please, Toothless, please listen to me! Please no! Please no!"_

The hum died in my throat.

" _H-Hiccup?_ " I whispered, eyelids fluttering.

A metallic clang rang far too close to my ear. I flinched away, hissing as my head began to pound.

" _Toothless? Toothless!_ " Hiccup half-sobbed with relief. "Oh, thank gods, I thought you were—I thought— _Toothless!_ "

Well, _now_ I was awake.

" _Hiccup!_ " I snapped a paw out into the sheer darkness hanging about us and immediately felt the cold burn of metal. A cage. Shifting around, I could feel that my wings and tailfins had been clamped shut with rope, and there was one tied around my neck as well.

Hiccup's voice was coming from my direct right, but I couldn't see or hear or smell anything else. I pressed up against the wall, squeezing my nose through the small holes in the front of my cage. In a more soothing tone, " _Me here!_ _It is fine, me here, it is fine._ "

Hiccup let out a humorless, breathless laugh. There was some scrabbling on his end, and his voice became much closer, tight with pain and joy. " _Me miss you so much! Me so worried and scared for you!_ "

" _Me too!_ " I breathed, cramming myself up against the cage. " _Me...me think…me think me never see you again."_ My voice began to shudder. _"Me…me no know where you_ go, _and us nestmates search you, but no know where_ nestmates _go, and me so scared and worried and_ stupid _and—_ "

" _No, Toothless, no no no_ ," Hiccup murmured. " _You no wrong. Me so sorry, Toothless. This me fault…_ "

" _Stupid!_ " I scolded. Hiccup gave that wheezing laugh again.

" _This bad, but…_ " Hiccup chuckled uneasily. " _Me…me so happy you here, Toothless._ "

" _Me too_ ," I admitted, feeling more guilty for _not_ feeling guilty. I shoved my paw through the cage and tapped my claws against the metallic ground.

Hiccup brushed his paw against mine and then grabbed on tight, squeezing my paw in his. I twisted my own paw around to do the same, holding on to him as tight as I could without injuring him.

The song dragons droned on. Somehow, it was much easier to push the song away.

" _Love you_ ," we both choked to each other.

This time, our hold would stay strong.

Nothing would rip us apart again.


	17. Chapter 16

**Surprise!**

 **Hello, everyone! I decided to post this early as a holiday gift to you all! C:**

 **I'd like to thank** **NightShadow9558, Flopy, xSkiesOfBlue11, Nacktgranate, Surprise Crayfish, Brenne, CrisDLZ, MisstyX0007, Enlil45, Crysist, and all anonymous reviewers for your kind words, especially during finals! And I'd especially like to thank my beta Crysist for working so hard on this one!**

 **As always, reviews are greatly appreciated! I hope you all have a fantastic day, and a wonderful holiday!**

* * *

 **Chapter 16**

Astrid

The net flew past us into the darkness. Stormfly swerved away. My fingers began to slip, and I clamped onto her even tighter than before, no matter how sore my legs were.

Great Thor, I was going to kill her. Only that was assuming I actually _survived_ this.

"Stormfly! Up!" I shouted, my voice raspy and hoarse from the smoke. I tried to glance down at the burning ship, but Stormfly decided to do a random spin.

Sharp whistles raced past—darts. They were shooting _darts_ at us.

Stormfly lunged to the side. Hookfang barreled past with more nets on his tail, Snotlout grasped in his talons and screaming.

He spotted me and pointed an accusing finger. "For the record, I blame you for this!" Hookfang suddenly dove, shooting fire in front of him and into the ocean. " _Ah! Hookfang!_ At least aim for something _important!_ "

Hookfang whirled away, rising back up into smoke cloud. Stormfly followed, and we were met with the sights of Meatlug and Barf and Belch.

"This is bad!" Fishlegs whimpered atop Meatlug. "I saw Hiccup! We gotta help him!"

"Help _him?_ " Snotlout shouted. "What about helping _us!_ If ya haven't noticed, we _kinda_ got kidnapped by our dragons!"

"Is it really kidnapping if you're having fun, though?" Tuffnut asked, looking completely relaxed even though he was dangling by his legs from the Zippleback's talons.

Ruffnut was in the same position, letting her legs and arms fall limp. "Ugh, I'm gonna be sick…why'd you teach Stormfly to do that, Astrid?"

"I _didn't!_ " I snapped. "You guys saw what happened!"

Everything had been going surprisingly well. I should have been suspicious, honestly. We had been watching the ships depart. Toothless had done some cool tricks with the other dragon to get up into the air. There was hope that they would find Hiccup.

Then Stormfly had decided to be just as much an overachiever as I was, snatching me up in her teeth, literally throwing me on her back, and taking off after the ships as fast as she could.

Hookfang, always one to imitate his playmate, had been all for grabbing Snotlout and carrying him off, too. Fishlegs and Meatlug had scrambled around and eventually set off to _help_ us, but Meatlug was too slow with the added weight. I was pretty sure Tuffnut and Ruffnut were just coming along for the ride.

So we had flown for _hours_ , Stormfly and Hookfang ignoring every command to turn back and Meatlug and Barf and Belch struggling to keep up with them. Our dumb dragons had made sure to hide within the clouds—leading to the _wonderful_ discovery that clouds were made of very, _very_ cold water—and far above Toothless and the other dragon.

Now it was pitch-black, the Bog Burglar's huge and expensive ship was going up in flames, Hiccup and Toothless were trapped on it and under attack, the Chief's fleet was too far away to help, the other dragon was captured, and to top it all off, a _freaking armada_ was sailing towards us.

I was a little frazzled.

Stormfly squeaked. She clutched her wings in, and I'd barely had time to hold on for my life before she zoomed right back towards the ship, spraying fire everywhere. I caught sight of Toothless and Hiccup—both of them glancing up at us with shocked, amazed eyes—and then back up we went.

"Stormfly, _no!_ " I shouted. "Grab Hiccup!Just _grab_ him!"

She flew in a wide circle instead. Hookfang breathed some more fire at the ocean. Meatlug and Barf and Belch were actually _trying_ to help, but the people aboard the ship had figured that out and were targeting them the most.

From below, a man commanded at the top of his lungs, "ENOUGH!"

The catapults stopped, the men quieting.

The man was obviously the leader, glancing around with calculating eyes. He was holding two dragons with some rope. Hiccup lunged at Toothless and wrapped his arms around his head, and then immediately began talking to him in a frantic, half-pleading, half-commanding tone.

I squinted at the dragons. Were they…tame? One of them seemed familiar, almost. With a small gasp, I realized the familiar one was the older Gronckle that occasionally chewed Toothless out for one thing or another.

Toothless screeched with indignation at the very same time I realized: there was a reason the scouting parties hadn't returned. They _wouldn't_ return, and I was looking straight at the person responsible for it.

The man looked up and met my eyes. With a slap on the rear, the other dragon—another Nadder—came flinging towards us. It was making the exact same sounds Stormfly had earlier.

Toothless gave a sharp, wheezing whine. All of our dragons scrambled away, flinging themselves high up towards the clouds.

"Wait!" I cried, struggling to hold on and trying in vain to pull Stormfly's head back down towards the ships. "We have to help—we gotta get them out of there! Stormfly, turn around—"

I looked down just in time to see the men aboard the ship hit Hiccup and Toothless dead-on with some darts. Both of them jolted. Hiccup ripped the dart out of Toothless and then did the same for himself.

Both of them swayed and fell limp to the burning deck, Toothless trying desperately to curl around Hiccup in his final waking moments. They were surrounded by men with nets and ropes in seconds.

The remaining warriors faced us, aiming catapults and darts in our direction: a promise of suffering the same fate if we were stupid enough to dive.

I felt the blood drain from my face. "Oh, gods," I whispered. I glanced over at the others.

Snotlout's anger had faded to terror, and he looked at me almost pleadingly, like he hoped I could come up with a plan. Fishlegs was frozen, eyes wide. Even the twins had lost their good humor, faces blank with shock and fear.

We had to choose.

"We gotta—we gotta do something!" Snotlout growled. "Hookfang, get down there! Blow 'em up!"

My breath hitched painfully in my chest. I clenched my teeth so hard they ached and felt my forehead wrinkle with anger.

Gods damn it.

"No," I ground out, holding a hand up. "There's too many—we'll just be caught, too, and nobody will know."

Snotlout gaped at me in disbelief. Fishlegs hung his head with sad acceptance. The twins shared an uncertain look.

" _Astrid!_ " Snotlout scolded. "Are you seriously telling me you wanna _give up?!_ "

"No!" I growled. "But _look_ at them!The Chief doesn't know about these people _or_ that we're here!"

The readied warriors continued to keep their sights on us even as the ships exploded into chaos. Men and women scrambling to get on the other ship, some dragging Hiccup, Toothless, and the colorful dragon and and some carrying their wounded. The ship they were boarding was even bigger than the Bog Burglar's, huge and imposing with multiple sails and metal reinforcements. There would be no sinking that thing—especially with Hiccup and Toothless unconscious aboard.

I desperately wracked my brain for an idea— _any_ idea. We couldn't just _leave_ them! But diving with that many people down there would get us in the same position! I would _not_ get all of us in trouble again, especially when there was a high chance that someone could get seriously hurt. We would be no use to Hiccup and Toothless then.

Stormfly whined, fluttering above the armed men and keening when they shifted their crossbows and catapults to follow her. She glanced over her shoulder at me.

"We'll have to…we gotta…" I struggled. "We...we have to split up. Some of us go get the Chief, and the rest of us tail them—"

"Oh, no," Fishlegs moaned. "Look!"

He pointed at the water.

Just beneath them, there was a sharp glimmering of silver and ebony-black. Metal chains attached to…

"Are those… _dragons?_ " Ruffnut asked in disbelief.

Tuffnut snorted. "They look like fancy fish."

"Sharkworms," Fishlegs breathed. "Medium-sized sea dragons. Strength 25. Speed 30. Poison 10."

"What does that nerd stuff even mean?!" Snotlout yelled.

Fishlegs' reply was swallowed by a series of sharp, piercing rings that went straight into my head. Men were hitting chains hanging off the ship with hammers. Just in the ocean's depths, huge black and white creatures with fins and powerful tails lingered at the surface.

The ocean began to boil with writhing patches of bubbles. Twelve white, foamy trails burst from the inky waters. They moved far ahead of the ship in a pointed formation, the chains attached to the ship rattling and dipping deeper and deeper out of sight. The foam trails merged into one massive, expanding current that roared over and around the ship.

The chains clanged and went taut.

The ship lunged forward like an arrow straight towards the imposing armada on the horizon. Everyone on board stumbled—except for their leader.

I had never seen something sail faster in my entire life. It was like a ship made of wind, racing effortlessly along the clouds. No crew could maintain that kind of speed for longer than a few minutes—but that was no normal crew pulling it forward.

My jaw dropped, horror making my limbs go rigid, my _stupid_ plan dying away as fast as I had thrown it together. In just a few moments, the ship was already a huge distance away, leaving a glowing wake in its path.

There was no keeping up with that. Even if we did split up, the Chief and the detached group would have no clue where to go. The group trailing the ships would be long-gone, with no clue of where they went.

Stormfly gave a lost, keening whine. The other dragons did the same.

"Well, c'mon, let's go!" Snotlout shouted. "Look at how fast that freaking thing is going! We gotta go, _now!_ "

He tried to urge Hookfang ahead, but the Nightmare's eyes were locked downwards. I followed his gaze hopefully, searching the ocean below in desperation. The other ship was sinking, her hull filled with water from all the explosions. No dragon or man had been left behind, all of them loaded onto the other ship.

Except for…

Hope lifted my heart. "There!" I gasped. I patted Stormfly to get her attention and pointed.

Stormfly perked up. She swooped down upon the burning remains of the ship. With one foot, she flung the wooden beam off of them—and with the other, she took them up in her talons.

The ship moaned. The fire blazed so hot that sweat dripped down my face.

"Let's go, girl!" I said.

Stormfly wasted no time. She took off just as the deck imploded, its wood splintering and waterlogged. With a final, mournful moan, the ship dipped underwater. There was a roiling spray of bubbles, and the fire lighting the night smoldered out. The darkness was sudden and cold, leaving me blinking rapidly, blind and disorientated.

"Ugh, who is _that?_ " Ruffnut groaned as we leveled out.

"Altruism. _Gross!_ " Tuffnut complained.

"Our new informant," I answered, ignoring Tuffnut. "Now come on, we gotta tell the Chief before they sail right into that armada."

From this high up, it was easy to spot the Chief's ships. The sails glowed just on the horizon, tiny beacons of hope. They had done a pretty good job at catching up...meaning that, soon, the armada would spot them.

"I still say we follow them and fight!" Snotlout said, pounding a fist in his palm. "They won't know what hit 'em!"

"No!" Fishlegs said. With a defeated sigh, he said, "Astrid's right. If we go at them now, we'll all be captured. Meatlug, can you lead the way?"

The Gronckle drooped. She grunted at the others and twisted around, buzzing back towards the Chief's fleet. For once, Stormfly and Hookfang had no problem following, both of them casting furtive glances behind us.

In the wake of everything, with everyone focused ahead, I let myself hunch over, shrinking to half my size.

I'd failed them. They'd needed me, I had been there, and I had _failed_ them. If I'd just been faster, if I'd just gotten Stormfly to _listen_ , if I'd just come up with a plan earlier, then we could have saved them.

This failure was my fault. As much as I hated it, I was the "leader" of our group. It was my responsibility to be able to handle these situations.

"I'm sorry," I whispered. I twisted around to see how far out the ship was, hoping uselessly that it had somehow slowed down and that there was still a chance that we could save them.

It was already gone.

 **o.O.o**

"You let them take Hiccup _and_ Toothless?!"

I hung my head under the Chief's furious glare.

"I'm sorry, Chief," I said. "There were too many people—we almost got captured ourselves."

"Yeah, it was really intense!" Tuffnut laughed, only to grunt when Ruffnut shoved his helmet down over his head.

"C-Chief, they were using Sharkworms," Fishlegs stammered. "They had a whole team tied to their ship. We would have never been able to keep up, not at the speed they got to."

"Speaking of keeping up, can we _please_ have some ropes so we can hold on?" Snotlout groaned, rubbing his back. "It hurts like hell to be carried around."

The Chief took a deep breath, pinching the bridge of his nose. Gobber was at his side, tying up our new friend that we'd snatched off the sinking ship.

"Eh, put a sock in it!" He growled. "The lot 'a you are goin' to hear it when we get back! We told ya to _stay_ on Berk!"

"It wasn't exactly voluntary…" Fishlegs mumbled.

"Stormfly kinda snatched me and flew off. The same goes for the others," I explained. "I'm really sorry, Chief."

The Chief was silent. He took a deep breath. Eventually, he fixed me with a stern look at said, "You need to learn to control your dragons. We _need_ you on Berk. But now's not the time for this."

He faced our prisoner.

"What do you have to say for yourself, Bertha?"

She coughed, her hair dripping over her face and her eyes burning. "I won't tell _you_ anythin'," she growled. She spat at the Chief's feet.

The Chief raised a brow.

"Oh ho ho ho!" Gobber chuckled.

Five minutes later, the Chief had somehow convinced Hookfang to dunk Bertha of the Bog Burglars over the edge of the ship, holding her underwater for a few seconds at a time.

Hookfang lifted her up just enough so that she could breathe and shot Snotlout one very confused look. Snotlout was laughing so hard he could barely get ahold of himself. He patted the Nightmare until he sent Bertha back down again.

A few minutes of that passed, until…

" _ALRIGHT!_ " Bertha howled after one of the longer punishments, spluttering and shivering. "Fer Thor's sake, _alright!_ "

"That's enough, Snotlout," the Chief grunted.

"Aww," Snotlout, Tuffnut, and Ruffnut whined. Snotlout pulled back on Hookfang's neck, and the dragon swung her around and threw her back on the deck.

She lied there, soaked and trembling and coughing. Stormfly, Meatlug, and Barf and Belch all lifted their wings and hissed at her. Hookfang helped himself to a drink of water, only to spit it out when he realized it was salt water.

"I knew it," Bertha wheezed, shrinking against the deck but keeping her head high. "I _knew_ Berk had dragons on it."

"Yeah," Gobber said with a shrug.

Bertha growled with frustration. "Is it a _game_ to ya people to go out'a yer way to _annoy_ me?"

"Sure is!" Ruffnut chirped. "We even got a tally going!"

"Don't expect an apology!" Tuffnut added.

The Chief unsheathed his sword and stood tall over her. "You have one more chance to tell us what you know."

Bertha sneered, sitting up and trying to blow her hair back into place. "Or what?"

"I will strip you of your weapons and throw you overboard, where you will sink and drown. A shameful death for the Chief of a seafaring tribe."

His cold words rang with truth. The ocean churned around us. The dragons rumbled, a guttural sound low in their chests.

Sitting in the shadow of Stoick the Vast, Bertha's defiant expression gave way to fear.

"Ya—ya need me," she stammered. "Ya won't know where yer demon son is without me."

"We found him once, we'll find him again," the Chief said. "If you choose to stay quiet, then so be it. Your death will be in vain."

The Chief was deadly serious, his eyes burning with untapped rage just itching to be set loose. I shot a wide-eyed look at the others.

Bertha was just as flabbergasted. In this game of wits, she had lost—and she knew it.

"Do you want to live or not?" The Chief demanded.

Bertha didn't respond, staring up at in him in search of a bluff.

She hung her head.

The Chief's stern voice lit up into something furious and vengeful, and he growled just a menacingly as the dragons, "Then tell us what you know."

For a long moment, she was quiet. I almost began to think that she'd changed her mind and was waiting for her slow and painful death.

Bertha hunched over, her shoulders jutting out, and heaved with a weak, dry laugh. She raised her head, her hair still dripping and plastered across her face, and bared her teeth in a gruesome grin.

"Drago Bludvist."

 **o.O.o**

Hiccup

The song was a haunting, mournful phantom, drifting over us and reminding us it was there at every turn.

We blocked it out in every way we could. We never let go of each other, grasping so tight it was almost painful. In an effort to never let it get to us—and more importantly, _Toothless_ —we spoke constantly, expanding my vocabulary as we went. Among words, we finally got down verb tenses, which opened up our communication much more than I imagined.

" _The singing dragons do not talk_ ," Toothless was confirming to me, his voice just a bit strained. " _Stormfly was singing dragon, but Astrid helped her._ "

" _So no always,_ " I murmured in shocked relief. " _We can help them._ "

" _No, Hiccup, us help_ us. _Then us nestmates, and then singing dragons._ "

" _I know!_ " I groaned in exasperation. " _But other King needs us help. All his young are gone._ "

" _I know_ ," Toothless sighed, squeezing my hand tighter. " _But that King stupid._ "

" _That_ _King_ scared," I corrected. Toothless snorted.

A moment of silence passed between us. The singing reverberated.

Toothless tensed and growled. We didn't let it last a moment longer.

" _Hiccup…us fledglings…us nestmates…_ "

Toothless shuddered and took in a deep breath. I squeezed his paw, purring soothingly.

" _They are gone_ ," he whispered. " _No everyone, but many, many us nestmates._ "

My breath left me like I'd smashed into the ground from a high fall. " _No…_ "

" _I'm sorry, Hiccup_ ," Toothless whimpered. His voice shook with pain and guilt, and he almost sobbed, " _I'm so, so,_ so _sorry. I am like King…I'm so stupid and bad King and—"_

" _Shh, Toothless_ ," I interrupted, holding him tighter. " _It is fine. I'm not mad, okay? We save us nestmates, okay?_ "

" _Okay,_ " he breathed.

We lapsed into another short silence as I tried to process the news. All of our young were gone. The song had taken them, and we had no idea how to fix it—even if I had just promised to do so. Our nest was dangerously low in numbers and both of us were gone, leaving it with no leaders and vulnerable to attack. They didn't have their Kings to protect them, except for…

I bit my lip. Anxiety pulsed from my heart.

" _Me…is father…okay?_ "

Toothless purred soothingly just like I had a moment before. " _He is very very scared,_ " he said in a gentle voice. " _He is worried and sad and miss you._ "

I had expected it, but still the words were a solid impact straight to my gut. I swallowed, scrubbing at my eyes with my other hand. Despite everything, I missed him, too—and he didn't even know it. He probably thought I _hated_ him, that I wanted nothing to do with him…

 _You're not a dragon anymore!_

" _He…no mad?_ "

" _No!_ " Toothless snorted like that was ridiculous. " _No, no. He think he is stupid. He no mad at you, he mad at mad him._ "

Toothless meant that to be comforting, but hearing that only made the guilt plaguing me worse. I drooped under the weight of it. Of course. Of course he was mad at himself. Of course he was blaming himself.

He had never said that to hurt me—I knew that. I _knew_ that. He'd said it to protect me, but instead…instead the feelings of betrayal still lingered as a dull ache, even when part of me knew it wasn't right.

" _I feel so bad_ ," I admitted. " _I...I'm sad and confused and…and_ angry, _but that no fair to him._ "

" _But him no fair to_ you _, too_ ," Toothless said. He sighed. " _All us…all us need to talk. And_ listen. _Your father…_ "

I curled up closer to the cage, grateful that he couldn't see my pained expression. " _He wasn't wrong,_ " I finished.

It was no use hiding from Toothless; he heard the hollow sadness in my voice right away. " _It is fine_ ," he comforted. "You _are fine. I love you. And your father love you, too. That is what is important._ "

" _But…but what..._ " I began, grasping at thin air for the right words. " _What_ me?"

" _You brother_ ," Toothless said. " _You King. You Savior._ "

" _But…_ "

The song bounced across the room.

" _Human?_ " I asked. " _Dragon?_ "

The ground lurched underneath us. Both Toothless and I cried out as we were flung forward, but neither of us let go, even as the ship shifted around so much that the both of us were sliding around.

Toothless cursed something along the lines of, " _what the ever-loving hell was_ that?! _"_

We fell silent, clutching at each other and breathless with anticipation.

The door screeched open, sending in beams of light that stabbed at my eyes. I hissed, ducking my head and squinting.

Footsteps. A shadow stretched grotesquely across the light.

"Well, isn't that cute?" Eret said with a grin.

I glared. Toothless snarled.

Several men rushed past their leader. There was a high-pitched clinging of trembling hands struggling to put keys into locks. A metallic squeal followed.

The singing got louder. The song dragons were lead out, the elder the last among them.

" _Elder,_ " I whispered as she passed. Her ears didn't even twitch towards me.

The silence was foreign after spending so much time under the song. I let out a breath I hadn't known I was holding.

"Come on, lads!" Eret shouted over his shoulder. "We'll need a lot of help with these ones."

More men began filtering into the cramped hull. I shrunk away, ducking my head.

In one of their hands, I saw a muzzle.

"NO!" I shouted. Eret jumped and the men approaching the cage took a step back.

"We'll come peacefully," I said. "Please, there's no need to tie us up like that."

"Hah!" Eret laughed. "That's a good one. And while we're at it, I should untie your friend's wings and tail, right?" He turned to his men. "Well, don't just stand there! Go on, but mind their teeth!" He shot me a look and said, "Even that one."

The men approached. I grit my teeth, squeezing Toothless' paw one last time.

We let go.

The cage screeched open and rough hands hoisted me to my feet. My vision filled with men and shadows and bright, painful light, and before I could make heads or tails of what was going on, my wrists were tied behind my back.

Toothless spewed curses at them and struggled as best as he could—but the cage was cramped, his wings and tail were tied up, and he was ridiculously outnumbered. Ropes were looped around his neck and torso. Even then, he didn't allow a single person to get near him with that gods-forsaken muzzle.

Unable to stand back and watch, I threw myself around, knowing it was useless and a waste of energy. Firm hands clamped down on my shoulders, forcing me to stay still.

All of these people were huge, looming over me and cast in shadows. They were clamoring, shouting orders to each other and struggling to maintain control of Toothless. I clenched my jaw as pain surged from my chest, sucking in thin breaths between my teeth.

 _Keep it together, Hiccup! It's not real!_

" _It is fine,_ " I whispered, cracking my eyes open.

" _Hiccup!_ "

I wasn't alone.

I managed to straighten up among all of the hulking figures so much bigger than myself and let my eyes rest on Eret's.

He gave a cheery grin and waved his men forward. Me first, then Toothless, and far behind us…the Color-Shifter, his muzzle bound so tight that he could hardly do anything more than stare with huge, terrified eyes. He was pulled from the cage the farthest from the song dragons, which must have spared him.

They dragged us up the stairs and out into the daylight. My eyes widened and my mouth parted.

" _Damn_ ," Toothless whispered behind me.

I had never been to a city before—but this must have been what it was like. Masts reached far above like a canopy of dead trees, their tips just barely scratching the edges of the mountainous glaciers surrounding the entire encampment. An intricate network of bridges had been laid out across the decks of the ships, each connected to pulley systems that allowed them to easily and quickly be raised and lowered. Enormous war machines and complex cages and traps were laid out at the ready, like at any moment they were expecting an attack.

Men were everywhere, busying themselves like ants along every open surface. There were easily more people here than I had seen in my entire life, and every single one of them was covered head to toe in weapons and armor. If I had thought that King's nest was huge, then this place was easily the same size, if not bigger.

In-between the ships were alleys of water and ice, sea dragons of all shapes and sizes crammed in by heavy metal chains and poking their noses out of the water to breathe. The flying dragons bound here were just as unlucky. Like the men, every scale was coated with heavy metal armor, and they were all either tied down or forced to perform hard labor.

The air was full of men shouting in a variety of languages and dragons crying out in fear and pain.

It was an armada and a base all at once—a nomadic army prepared to charge at a moment's notice with deadly and unforgiving strength.

I shivered from the cold and the dread that struck deep into my heart. There was something sinister about this place huddled in the shadows of the glaciers. The enslavement of the dragons—and possibly the _people,_ too—didn't seem to be the worst of it. Something was lurking, something just outside my perception. I could feel it pulling at me, the slightest quiver deep to my bones.

We were dragged along the pathways, the ships and sails around us rising up like buildings. It gave the perception that we were on land, walking through a street. Eret lead at the front with the singing dragons he had collected from Bertha, and a guard surrounded both me and Toothless. Glancing over my shoulder, I could just barely see the Color-Shifter attempting to disguise himself, giving the illusion that the ropes tied around him were being controlled by an invisible ventriloquist.

We slowly picked our way through the bridges and decks until we came upon a bigger part of the shipyard. On the outskirts of the armada were smaller, sleeker ships much like Eret's. Yet In the center and the front edge of the armada lurked several huge vessels. Traps and cages had been draped over all of their decks, empty and waiting.

"Drago!" Eret cried out in fake delight. " _Drago_ , my friend. It's been awhile!"

Whoever he was talking to, I couldn't see him. The men in front of me stopped, and the singing dragons blocked the view. I shook my head at a small wave of dizziness their proximity caused.

"I come with some great news!" Eret exclaimed. "Not only have I got you some extra dragons fresh out of the sky, but I've completed the task you sent me out for!" His voice got louder, and he shoved his way through his men. "Come along, lad, don't be shy."

He put his hand on my shoulder and pushed me forward. I stepped along, my heart hammering, and tried to look calm and not-freaked-out.

" _HICCUP!_ " Toothless cried out, his voice tight with fear. The men behind us began to shout, several calling for reinforcements. There was a lot of movement, some snarling, and—

Toothless trotted out of the group and stood right next to me, his ropes dangling from his neck and his head held high. His bindings were quickly picked up again by every man near him, but that didn't stop him from sending one hell of a smug look around him. We both pressed up close to each.

He struggled to look like he'd meant for that to happen, stuttering for a few seconds before saying, " _And_ one last gift for you!" Still in a bit of a fluster, he swept his arm out dramatically. "A beautiful, sleek Night Fury, living right up to its name!"

Leaning against Toothless, I followed Eret's nervous gaze. My heart leapt up into my throat.

The man was made of shadow.

He was approaching from a high platform, and with every step he seemed to suck the light out of the air around him. He was cloaked under a dark, wispy pelt, giving the illusion that he was a walking silhouette. His hair dragged beneath him like the spaces between beams of light glimmering through a canopy, a stark contrast against the light around him. What clothing I saw underneath his cloak was swallowed in its bleakness. One corner of his jaw drooped down, as if it were slowly breaking under the heaviness of the darkness.

Worst of all were his eyes. They were cold, lifeless, without any sort of compassion. There was no brightness in them, only a dead glint. If looking into Toothless' eyes brought me life and warmth, looking into this man's left me empty and frozen.

He glanced at Toothless and then pinned me under his corpse-like stare. He was completely silent even as he stopped just an arm's length away, his dark form almost bleeding into the shadows around him.

Toothless figured it out first. Out of nowhere, he reared up like a spooked horse with a sharp, wheezing whine. Falling to his feet, he threw himself against me, struggling to stay close even as the men tugged at him.

A moment later, and I saw it myself. It took all of my self-control to muffle a horrified cry.

The cloak. Those were Shadow-Blender scales.

" _No…_ " Toothless whimpered, his legs shaking as he inched step-by-step closer to me. " _No, no, no…_ "

Throughout all of this, Eret had been yammering some sort of sales pitch. He finally finished it, "…and so, as you can see, I have delivered on my promises and then some, just for you!"

The man—Drago—turned his expressionless eyes onto Eret.

His voice was a low and guttural, deep in his throat like he was trying to clear it. It was something that made me immediately try to translate from _dragon_ language, only to be confused when I realized that it was Norse instead.

"Are those dragons infected?"

"Oh, these?" Eret asked somewhat nervously, sending a quick glance to the singing dragons. "Unfortunately, yes. That happened on the way back up here. But don't you worry! I've still got—"

Drago cut him off with a swift snap of his arm, his fingers closing like talons around Eret's neck.

The cloak dangled lifelessly around his form. Both Toothless and I winced away, huddling together, still in disbelief of what we were seeing. A Shadow-Blender pelt. Toothless had always spoken fondly of family, even if he hadn't seen them since he was little. They didn't live up here in the north. Where—and _who_ —was that?

"Your orders were simple," Drago ground out. "Find the boy. Capture dragons. Do not bring infected ones back."

Eret somehow managed to pull a grin even though he was in a chokehold. "Don't worry!" He croaked. "I am confident that with the boy here—"

Drago leaned forward and _growled_ , just like a dragon. He snapped his fingers open and let Eret drop, hacking, to the ground. One of Eret's crewmen, a young boy just a few years older than me, rushed forward to help him.

 _Guish._

I gave a choked, horrified cry that cut off halfway through. Toothless froze, pinning his ears and arching his back.

Drago allowed a malevolent smile to burn across his lips, staring straight into the boy he'd driven his bullhook through. It was gouged deep into the boy's midsection. Blood was pouring and spurting from the puncture, dripping over a limb-locked Eret, who was sitting frozen on the darkening deck.

I had a moment to see the confused agony in the boy's eyes. Drago twisted the bullhook and flung him aside, wrenching the weapon from his body and throwing him overboard.

The water filled with a frenzy and sudden onslaught of snarls, the waves crashing in a white foam. The boy screamed and begged for help—and then his shrieks suddenly cut off. The foam turned crimson, and the luminescent eyes of the sea dragons sparked just in the depths.

After less than ten seconds, the sea dragons slipped back below the surface and disappeared without a hint that they were there.

Drago turned to Eret, his dead eyes glowing like cat eyes in the dark. "You've bet your life on him," he snarled. "Do not disobey me again."

Eret stared up at him in unmasked terror, coated in the blood of his young crewmate. "R-right," he breathed.

I stared into the still-bloodied waters. My stomach roiled, my breath became thin, and my legs grew weak. Shadows swarmed my vision, compounded by the stench of blood, the slight taste of fear-scent that I could just barely imagine there. Had I not eaten so little, I would have vomited right then and there. I leaned heavily on Toothless as my heart both sunk and burst to double-speed with panic and horror, so much so that my ears rang and I began to feel lightheaded.

Just like that. Just like that, this man of shadows had tortured and murdered an innocent person, twisting it around into some grotesque lesson.

With a wave of Drago's hand, the song dragons were taken away. The Color-Shifter was pulled in a different direction, rearing and thrashing the entire way. At every chance he got, he begged with his eyes for us to save him, to live up to our namesakes.

Too fast for us to snap out of the shock, the area cleared. Eret, his men, and Toothless and I were all that remained. Drago turned his attention on us.

"So _this_ is the dragon-boy?"

As shaken as I was, I still managed to shake my head.

Eret worked his jaw up and down before saying weakly, "Y-yes. This one's dead-set on lying, but he's the one. Heard 'em talk to that dragon and everything. You should have heard them chatting on the way up here…" He gave a nervous, fake laugh. Drago stepped past him and he flinched away, covering his head with his arms.

It took several attempts for me to gasp out, "W-wait, hold on a second—I'm not—"

Toothless gave a furious, unsteady growl, trying to step in front of me. The men held him back and me in place.

Drago paused, taking clear notice that Toothless didn't have a muzzle on. He turned his eyes back to me.

"Put it in an arena."

"W-what? No!" I writhed around in the men's grasp as they began to drag me away. They were taking me to one of the bigger ships connected to this one, which loomed above us and had the top of a huge circular cage peeking up over its starboard. "Wait, h-hold on!"

" _No!_ " Toothless roared.

There was a high-pitched shriek, a burst of flame…and then a shockwave barreled into us. The men stumbled. I slipped out of their grasp and stumble away—

Drago pulled his cloak back down, unimpressed, and waved off the small cloud of smoke still smoldering on those dead Shadow-Blender scales. More men took hold of me.

"Wait!" I shouted over my shoulder as Drago and Toothless were swallowed up in the crowd. "I'm not the person you're looking for!"

I was carried up the steep bridge to the ship. Right in its center was the cage-like contraption I had caught a glimpse of before. It looked like a giant snapping trap embedded into the deck, designed to clamp shut with something inside it to capture it.

Except it wasn't empty.

Pacing around in it was an enormous seafoam-green dragon. She had three heads, each with a long snout and gnarly overbite. Spines ran from her neck down to her three tailtips. She was four-legged, with her wings attached to her front paws like a Flame-Skin.

She whipped her six golden eyes towards us and screamed. Three horizontal, orange-white stripes flared across her body in a luminous display.

The trap was cranked open just enough.

"No, no, no," I stammered. I was lifted up in the air and immediately began kicking my legs. "What are you doing?!"

" _Hiccup!_ " Toothless shrieked from below. He began to shout, but his voice suddenly cut off.

There was no time to panic. I was thrown in. The trap clamped shut.

The dragon lunged.

"Wait!" I begged her, leaping away just in time and rolling on the ground. The dragon had been running at full speed, and one of her heads went straight through the bars and got stuck. Her tail whipped around, snapping across my spine—and shearing the ropes holding my wrists behind me.

She howled with outrage, spitting curses that rivaled Toothless' in creativity. Her death-wishes _should_ have sent shudders down my spine. Instead my heart lifted—and then dropped.

I knew that accent. It was of the dragons of the King's nest—one of the Color-Shifter's nestmates. Which was great…until I realized that meant she probably didn't understand Norse and didn't know who I was.

Time slowed to a crawl as I stood there, watching her struggle to rip herself free and shooting crackling golden fire all over the place.

Drago wanted me. He'd employed Eret to get me. Eret, in turn, had employed the Bog Burglars. They had probably been heading to Berk from here before they had lucked out and captured me on the way there. For whatever reason he needed me, he would go to just as many lengths as the King would.

If I managed to keep up this act…if I went out of my way to prove Eret wrong and convince Drago that I wasn't who he was looking for…

Would I be enslaved? Or would I be deemed useless and killed? What would he do to _Toothless?_

The dragon wrenched herself free. She whirled towards me, teeth snapping, golden fire glowing in all three of her throats, and howled with all the rage she could muster at me.

She charged with murder in her eyes. This time, I knew I would not be able to get away.

I had no choice.

" _STOP!_ " I commanded, holding out my hands.

The dragon's eyes widened and she skidded to a stop, rearing her head back. Her glowing stripes faded.

" _What?_ " She breathed in amazement. She launched into a long string of questions, " _But_ … _how…what...Human? Dragon?…why…?_ "

I kept my hands held out, struggling to catch my breath. In her confusion, I glanced up out of the trap. The deck of the ship was high above, giving the impression that I was in the Kill Ring with dozens of onlookers staring down and in. The only way out was a bridge leading up, which was also locked behind the cage door.

Drago was standing there, a gruesome grin splitting his face in two. Eret stood at his side, looking like he was about to collapse with relief and rubbing his throat.

The dragon's tone became less inquisitive and more suspicious. All three of her heads argued and then began snapping accusations at me with narrowed eyes and bared teeth. She thought I was tricking her.

" _No_ ," I murmured in a low voice, like if I spoke quietly Drago wouldn't hear and I could still lie us out of this. " _Me…friend. It…is…fine._ "

" _Liar!_ " All three heads of the dragon screeched. She swiped her talons at me.

I jolted away, twisting my body around and falling on my side. The dragon advanced, saliva dripping from her fangs, her glowing stripes reappearing. She pounced for my throat.

" _Savior! Me Savior!"_ I shouted, cringing into the deck and covering my head.

Three jaws closed a hair away from my face with three piercing _SNAP_ s _._ Her breath wafted over me, burning hot and smelling of smoke.

Each head repeated to me, " _Savior? Savior? Savior?_ "

" _Yes_ ," I heaved. " _I am a Savior. I spoke to your King._ "

She narrowed her eyes with scrutiny, still not so sure. One of her heads spoke in confusion, struggling to understand me.

" _Soulfire!_ " I gasped, drawing the word out." _Your King wants soulfire!_ "

 _That_ got her attention. Even in her confusion, she seemed to have picked out that single important word.

" _King!_ " One head yelped, going on about him. She sniffed at me and squawked about her nest and nestmates; she could find their scent on me.

The second head studied me, head tipped aside.

" _Human? Dragon?_ " The last asked, thoroughly perplexed.

I looked down at my hands, and then at the pocket for my wings beside them.

The heads spoke amongst themselves. They argued and took in my scent. I caught the words _King_ and _nestmates_ and _song._

They came to a decision. Six eyes bored into me.

The dragon stepped back, placed one paw straight out in front of her, and buried her foreheads into the deck.

" _Savior. Savior. Savior._ "

This was quickly followed by a plea: _please save us._

I grimaced. Great, there went that plan. My _only_ plan.

" _Sorry_ ," I whispered, sitting up and panting. " _I'm so sorry..._ "

I trailed my eyes back above, to the looming shadow sitting there grinning with victory.

Fear flooded my senses, making everything crisp and clear. "No!" I wheezed, scrambling upright.

Right at his feet was Toothless. Someone had managed to get that damn muzzle on him, and he was being held in place with at least ten ropes coming off of him. He met my eyes, but in them I only saw relief.

Drago casually held the bullhook over Toothless' neck, letting it rest on the soft spot where there wasn't any spines. Toothless wrenched around with a muffled growl, but the combined forces of Drago's and Eret's men were too much for him.

He nodded at some men. The trap began to crack open again. The three-headed dragon exploded with color and curses, rearing up in anticipation and each head facing a different direction.

"Tell it to stand down," Drago commanded.

Toothless shook his head even as fear glimmered in his eyes. _Don't_ , he was saying. _Don't give in._

But I had just seen this man mercilessly kill one of his own, out of nothing but madness and spite.

 _And he had Toothless._

" _Stop!_ " I commanded the dragon. She did just that, gaping down at me. " _Do…not…attack!_ " Staring pointedly at Toothless, I named him, " _Savior._ "

She followed my gaze and bristled, arching her back. Vengeance and bloodlust filled her voice—but also fear and dread and hopelessness. Now that she'd realized that _both_ Saviors were captured, she was at a loss, panicked and hopeful and desperate all at once.

" _Do…not…attack!_ " I said again, limping towards the bridge out of the cage that led to Drago and Toothless.

She looked between me and the open trap, the sky tantalizingly close.

Her eyes settled on Drago. She gave a soft, fearful hiss, and slunk away to hide behind me.

I turned to Drago, still shaking, and set my jaw. "Let him go."

Drago's smile vanished. He paused—and pushed the bullhook in.

Toothless gave a sharp whine, squeezing his eyes shut. I cried out in horror, rushing forward until the men at the bridge stopped me.

" _I_ am in control," the man of shadows growled. " _I_ give commands. _I_ am your Alpha."

He pushed the weapon even deeper, so much that Toothless gave a sharp cry of pain and his legs almost gave out. The very sound kicked my heart into overdrive, making me feel as though I had taken the blow myself.

"Alright! _Alright!_ " I begged, stopping just a few feet away and holding my hands up. "I'll listen to you, I'll—I'll calm down more dragons for you, but—but—"

Drago smirked.

And he pushed that damned bullhook in further.

And Toothless _squealed._

Toothless' legs suddenly went limp, and he dropped to the ground with a cry of pain that he tried to muffle. His limbs locked up, and he attempted to lift himself up on wildly-shaking legs once, twice, thrice—

"No. _No!_ " I gasped, choking up, struggling to find more words that fled from my lips. It was impossible to breathe, or think, or feel _anything_ but the horror clenching tight around my chest, ripping the air from my lungs. With each failed attempt to get up, each time my brother's pain was so great that he couldn't even _stand_ , despair darkened the world more and more.

"Alright! I get it! Stop, _please!_ " I nearly sobbed.

Drago met my eye. He ripped the bullhook back, and Toothless let out a wheezing shriek that turned my blood cold.

Amidst all the panic and fear washing over me in great waves, anger sparked. He wasn't just using me—he was using _Toothless_ , too, playing with his life like a cat plays with its crippled prey. In my mind's eye, a horrible vision lunged at me from the shadows: Drago, a Shadow-Blender pelt hanging limp off his shoulders. A _familiar_ Shadow-Blender pelt.

Just like always, I was completely, totally, absolutely _useless_. He was standing there, puffed up with pride, while he tortured my brother right in front of me. Beneath that wicked joy he took from our suffering, I saw something else: a promise. A promise to plunge me into a world without love, without warmth, without meaning. A promise to cast me into a world without Toothless.

I couldn't do it. The very idea sent torrents of heartbreak and agony slicing through my heart. Toothless was my other half. Without him, I would be all the more empty than I already was, all the more useless and incomplete, all the more of a lost, strange creature that couldn't even figure out _what_ it was.

Tears prickled in my eyes, born from both fury and despair. I dropped my arms, fingers curling into claws, and bared my teeth. "If you kill him, you kill me, too," I snarled. My voice rattled as much as my body, "W-whatever it is you want, I'll stop the second you lay a finger on him. I'll—I'll stop eating, I'll stop drinking, I'll do nothing but _lay_ there and wait for…for…"

My eyes flicked away from his, and I cut myself off.

Toothless had stopped trying to get up. He lay at Drago's feet, still shaking with the agony of having the bullhook plunged into him...and also with shameless, unbridled _terror._ He was staring at me as if I had transformed into a beast, as if he had seen me drop dead to the ground right there, as if _he_ was the one watching his brother tortured for sport rather than the other way around.

He could only watch, piercing through me with that horrified, frightened stare, his eyes carrying an unspoken plea. I had only ever seen that one other time: when the Queen had dragged me down into the ocean and transformed me back into...into _this_ , killing me in the process.

The rush of anger and terror faded, and realization set in. I felt disconnected, like I wasn't here, like the words I had just spoken had been someone else. " _I'm...sorry…_ " I breathed, but somehow couldn't find my voice enough to say anything else. What words I could think of were swallowed up in Toothless' heartbroken stare, futile and useless in the face of what I had just done.

Drago glanced between the two of us, his dark eyes cunning and thoughtful. Eret and his men all looked to him with anticipation and to me with shock.

That horrible grin returned to his lips. It finally got through my stupid head that I should have just gone along with what he wanted.

His grainy voice filled with amusement, "So, you want to challenge me, little dragon-boy?"

He flared his Shadow-Blender cloak. He met my eyes and abandoned Toothless, rushing at me with such startling speed that I took a few steps back.

In moments, he seemed to grow twice in size. The dragon behind me whined with fear.

In an inhuman scream so loud that my ears rang _,_ Drago _roared._

" _SUBMIT!_ " He swung the bullhook in a wide circle above him, flinging warm droplets of blood— _Toothless'_ blood—that peppered my skin. " _SUBMIT! SUBMIT!_ "

It was so unexpected and horrifying to hear the dragon-tongue rip from his throat that I stumbled backwards. Drago advanced further. He was so big, so loud—the murder clear in his eyes, the bloodthirst evident from the crimson stains on his clothing.

He caught up to me and shoved me down. Toothless' outcry was lost, far away, as my vision filled with him standing over me, ready to plunge his weapon into my heart.

He was a shadow, a shadow wrenching control of my life from me, a shadow that was going to turn me to nothing and _use_ me. In him I saw the Queen's madness—and in him, I saw something else, something so unwelcome and _wrong_ that I choked on air as a horrible pain burst through my chest.

I met my father's eyes and flung myself away. It wasn't him—it _wasn't_ him!—I knew he didn't hate me anymore! Toothless was there—he would help—we were together—!

" _It is fine!"_ I hissed to myself. I could almost convince myself that I heard Toothless saying it, too. " _It is fine!_ "

 _It's not real!_

But Drago wasn't an illusion. He wasn't a trick of my mind. He was real, a dead shadow that could and _would_ lunge for the kill, unlike the imaginary one that stalked at the edge of my shell of magic. He was real, and he had been prowling the shell of the King's nest, bleeding from it the dragons there that remained.

Now his sights were set on us. On _me._

And I had let him consume me, spewing words turned to poison, snarling them with all my heart, blind to how each word tore down Toothless more and more.

 _Keep it together!_ I all but screamed at myself as the real and unreal bled into each other around me. The Queen. Drago. Dad. Fear struck through me, but not of the madman standing before us. I couldn't freak out—not here, not now—not when I needed to keep calm more than anything!

Drago seemed hundreds of feet taller than me, contempt and victory both evident in the twisted crook of his mouth. I blinked—Dad—the Queen—

" _NO!_ " I shrieked in desperation and defiance, clawing at the shadows constricting me. I had to fight back, I had to throw it off, I had to stop screwing everything up!

The bullhook plunged into the wood in front of me. A mountainous force crashed into my chest and pinned me there, all but caving my lungs in. I struggled to breathe as my heart lit up with agony.

Drago hunched to loom over me, making the sun blink out overhead.

"You belong to me."

My ears rang. Toothless was screeching far away, barely audible over the shouts of all the men.

"No," I wheezed. I struggled to break free, but I was pathetically overpowered. "No!"

Drago's eyes glinted knowingly. He peered deep into me and let a cruel grin slide across his face. He knew, somehow, just by looking at me.

I fought anyways. I knew it was useless, but still I exhausted myself trying to rip myself free of the consuming darkness.

Drago chuckled.

Because when had I ever been free of these shadows?


	18. Chapter 17

**Hello, everyone!**

 **Here's one final weekly update for you all, to kick off the New Year! I hope all of you have a great end of the year, and stay safe!**

 **I'd like to thank** **Aquawyrm, Cyeithen, veije, ICannotLiveWithoutBooks27, Anonymous Noob the 2nd, TheFuriousNightFury, Samateus-Taal, Surprise Crayfish, NightShadow9558, SethisawesomeGT, xSkiesOfBlue11, Elt-1080, Brenne, TheWhisperingWarrior, CrisDLZ, Penelope Valentine, Varghul, Flopy, Alexisminas, Crysist, and all anonymous reviewers for all of your wonderful reviews! Seriously, thanks to all of you for sharing your thoughts! And as always, thanks to my beta Crysist for all your hard work on this!**

 **As always, reviews are very much welcomed! I hope you all have a great day, and a wonderful New Year!**

* * *

 **Chapter 17**

Toothless

Stolen.

We had been stolen. Stolen from the sky, from warmth, from our responsibilities, from our home, from our safety. We had almost had security grasped in our claws, only to be wrenched away by the cold bite of steel grasped in the talons of a monster.

Hiccup disappeared from view in the sea of humans. Glowing lights spotted my vision as ropes around my throat wrenched me around, constricting to the point that I could scarcely breathe. My limbs were overcome with a tidal wave of prickling numbness, and my neck and upper shoulders screamed with pain from when that _thing_ had pushed his claws deep into my soft spot.

I tried to call out for Hiccup, but the muzzle was too tight. I could only manage a feeble, " _Hmmfp!_ "

The roar of the crowd around us was enormous, filled with yammering human tongues and dragons wailing. It was too much—my vision was already blurring from the pain and lack of air, but now it was downright nauseating, making the wood below seem to rock unsteadily between my claws.

I walked with stiff, lagging legs, swaying back and forth and taking quick steps to right myself when I got too dizzy. My tail whipped around until human paws clamped down on it and held it still. My wings drooped, too tingly and numb for me to even think of trying to move them around.

None of it mattered to me. I had to get back to him. I _had_ to show him I was alright. He couldn't be alone—I wouldn't _allow_ him to be alone! Not after…not after he'd…

A blast of cold air, and darkness closed in. I realized what was happening just as I was thrust into the damned cage.

" _Nff!_ " I hissed, twisting around and slamming all of my weight into it just as it was shut. It didn't budge. The pain of the impact was enough to make me reconsider doing it again…and then disregard it. I threw myself at it again. I couldn't let them separate us—I couldn't let Hiccup be _alone!_

" _Hmmfp!_ " I tried to screech, the terror clamping around my heart more painful than all my wounds combined. Dragoness of the Moon, they were separating us! He wouldn't know that I was alright!

The humans laughed at my pathetic attempts to reach out to my brother. They so damned _loud_ , stomping and shouting in archaic-sounding tongues. There was some clanging, more laughter, and footsteps. The opening to the cave, the only source of light, was closed.

I was shut in cold, cold darkness again, for the second time within just a few hours. The silence almost stung. In it, everything else was almost tangible. The horrible fear-scent that struck deep into my nostrils, the lingering taste of blood on the air, the rocking of the cage, the subtle groaning of metal and wood…and something else.

It was so low that I couldn't hear it, but I could _feel_ it vibrating against my side-frills. It was a physical thing, even though I was completely alone. At once, a strange fear seized me, and I backpedaled until I crashed into the back end of the cage.

Was it the song? Was is close? Where was it coming from? Why was it here? Was it affecting Hiccup, too?

I couldn't let it distract me, not when I needed to focus on getting back to Hiccup. " _Nf!_ " I shouted at it, shaking my head and pawing at my ears. " _Nf!_ "

There was a surprised squeak nearby and some shuffling.

"H-Hello?" A timid voice asked. It was the Color-Shifter.

At the very same time, a much more welcome voice whispered with rising hope, " _Toothless?_ "

I froze.

Oh, thank the Dragon of the Sun and Dragoness of the Moon! He was here! He knew I was okay!

" _Hmmfp!_ " I hobbled forward again and smacked my nose right into the cage. With a pained grunt, I bent my head and pawed at the sting.

"Gods…" Hiccup cursed. In a shaken, weary voice, he rasped, " _Toothless, I'm so, so sorry._ "

I tried to scold him, but it was just as muffled and impossible to understand as everything else.

"Saviors…?" The Color-Shifter asked, still uncertain. His dull voice began to fill with hope, "You're…both of you are here?"

" _Toothless, are you hurt?_ " Hiccup croaked. There was some shuffling as he moved around in his cage a short distance away.

" _Mm-mm_ ," I hummed. I began to claw at the leather strap sealing my jaw shut, but it was no use—there was some metal in it, too.

" _This is my fault,_ " Hiccup growled to himself. " _I need fight, I need be no scared and be strong and smart, but no! I was weak. I…I…_ " His voice filled with despair. " _I submit._ "

" _Nf!_ " I growled, lashing my tail and shaking my head.

There was a short silence.

Whatever that prying, horrible thing was, it seemed to have stopped. I took in a deep breath and closed my eyes, even though it was so dark that it made no difference. At least that was one less thing to worry about for now.

"Saviors, w-what's wrong?" The Color-Shifter stammered in rising panic. "I don't…I can scarcely understand him. Why does he sound so hopeless? Surely you have a plan?"

With no other option, I settled for a dismissive grunt. My claws bore into the leather of the muzzle, only to painfully catch on the steel below, sending sharp little needles of pain through my paws.

" _Toothless?_ " Hiccup spoke up. " _I…think I know what to do. Look down, then use your fire._ "

"… _hmf?_ " I asked. Still, I trusted him to come up with something and did as I was told.

Bending my neck down, I filtered enough gas into my jaw to be able to light a fire. A soft hiss escaped between my teeth as I creaked my jaw open, straining with all my strength against the muzzle just to open them a hair's width. The muzzle bit down hard, fighting against my efforts, and my mouth began to fill with a dangerous volume of gas.

I managed to get my mouth to open the slightest bit, and the firing gas flew to its escape. Without a second thought, I flicked my ignitor to turn the gas into a slow, curling flame. It creeped around my lips and flickered upwards, casting a soft amber glow onto our surroundings. The Color-Shifter was in a cage across from mine and off to the side, scrunched up as close to the bars as he could. Hiccup was in the cage directly across from mine, slumped against the side of it, bedraggled and worn. His eyes met mine, and a little bit of their light seemed to return.

Because I had my head down, the tips of my flames went straight up instead of forward. The leather of the muzzle caught fire just as the strain became too much. I cut off my gas supply right before my jaw clamped shut. Smoke filled my throat and flew out of my nostrils, which was very uncomfortable, but worth the efforts. With a grimace, I held my breath and tried not to sneeze.

Now, most of my muzzle was on fire—or, rather, most of the _flammable_ parts of my muzzle were on fire. High-pitched hisses and crackling filled the cavern as the leather shriveled and warped. I lied down, grabbed at the smoldering thing with both my paws, and pulled with all my might. Even though my head was pounding, I fought against the restraint as hard as I could and strained to open my jaw again.

 _CrrreeeeING!_

Metal shards went flying. The Color-Shifter gave a sharp yelp. The fire began to fade.

" _Ow!_ " I complained, rubbing at my sore jaw with a paw. I shook my head to dislodge stray metal and leather bits, and soft _tings_ filled the cavern.

" _You okay?_ " Hiccup asked, alarmed and guilty now.

A grin split across my lips. " _Yes, yes! Thank you, Hiccup!_ _See, you smart! I would never think of that!_ "

He gave a wry, humorless chuckle. " _Heh,_ _that the only good thing I can do._ "

My face fell. Pain clutched at my chest and my limbs began to shake, but not from the wound in my spine. I stared at the spot in the darkness where I knew he was.

I didn't have to say anything. Without anything else to distract us, the shadow of our confrontation with that monster swooped overhead. The shadow of what he had done. The shadow of what he had draped across his shoulders.

The shadow of what Hiccup had said.

"So, you've a plan, yes?" The Color-Shifter asked, a little more confident after seeing our other "plan" work. "L-let's be over it quickly, then, so we can—"

" _Why did you say that?!_ " I exploded, my heart pounding and my ears pinned. " _Why you_ think _that? Please, you lie? That lie?_ "

He didn't have to answer my desperate plea, but he did anyways. " _…I'm sorry, Toothless…_ "

" _No!_ " I gasped. "Why? _That…that no_ you, _Hiccup! You are strong! Why…how…how can you say that?!_ "

All at once, the stress and agony of the past few days sprung up on me. Our home invaded, Hiccup lost, our nestmates wounded and disappearing, the confusion and self-loathing of my inadequacy as King, the terror of capture, the monster of that human…and the searing words that Hiccup had spoken with all of his heart.

It was difficult to catch my breath. My own fresh fear-scent flooded the cage.

" _Why?_ " I repeated. " _Why did you say 'if human kills Toothless, you kill you'?! Why…why you…_ Hiccup…"

I began to sob.

Hiccup's breath whooshed out in a stunned, trembling whine—a sound I'd never heard from him before. His voice filled with shame and guilt, and he rushed, " _T-Toothless, no, I'm so sorry! That—that no—"_

I heaved as I struggled to compose myself. "You meant it," I choked, shaking my head. " _You speak the truth…_ "

With another whine, Hiccup said, " _Toothless, no…I'm so stupid, and…and…_ " He began to speak in a mixture of human and dragon words, " _That_ horrible _and_ wrong _and I'm so sorry._ Ipromise, _Toothless_ , I promise that _I never_ do that _._ I wasdesperate _and scared and think_ Drago was about to kill you, _but that_ not anexcuse _and…_ "

Now his voice was rattling, like he was taken up in the shadow's jaws and being wrenched around. " _I'm so, so sorry, Toothless. I understand you_ don't forgive me. I'm…I'm just as terrible as Drago." In a softer tone, " _I_ don't forgive me."

My mind was racing. " _No_ , _no, no,_ " I murmured. "Of course I forgive you. I…"

I took a deep breath to calm myself. Swallowed in darkness, I heard Hiccup do the same.

" _Okay,_ " I breathed. " _Okay. I'm not_ mad, _Hiccup. I'm only scared for you._ "

" _That no fair to you_. _I'm sorry—_ "

"Shh," I stopped him. " _Hiccup, I love you. You know that! I'm_ always _scared for you, stupid._ "

This earned a small snort from him.

" _You need to talk. About this._ " The moment the words left my mouth, I realized what they sounded like: a demand. Softening my voice, I amended, " _Please, Hiccup, if...if...you are ready to._ "

I could almost see him cringing away and hiding behind his wings as he moaned, " _…Now?_ "

" _No, tomorrow_ ," I said with a roll of my eyes. " _But...but...I don't know. I_ want _to help you, Hiccup, and talk good, not bad. But...if you still hurt, then...I understand if not now._ "

Hiccup fell into a sullen, contemplative silence. I almost tried to draw him out of it, only to stop myself just before the words left my lips. Lessons hard-learned from the past had only taught me that pressing him for answers when he wasn't comfortable with discussion would send him deeper within himself.

Hiccup would have to talk to me on his _own_ terms—not mine.

The Color-Shifter leaped at the opportunity to speak. "What was…ah…are you two… _so_ , we have a plan to get out of here, yes?"

"No," I sighed. I was far too drained to explain everything to him—not that it was any of his business.

"Ah…what?" The Color-Shifter laughed uneasily. "This is no time for jokes, Savior."

"I'm not joking."

There was some scuffling of claws on metal.

"B-But…we can't…we must escape, Savior! We'll _die_ here!"

I shook my head with another sigh. He was correct that we should be trying to find a way out, but this took priority.

Hiccup had blatantly stated that he would kill himself. Defending me or not, him agreeing with me or not, I was not letting this pass until I lectured some sense into him.

I didn't know how I would—offering "you have so much to live for" and "you must be strong" and all the like would do _nothing_ to help—but I had to do _something._ All I knew for certain was that I had to be there for him, not allowing my own emotions to take over. Breaking down and crying only put more of a burden on Hiccup's shoulders, filling him with even more guilt and self-loathing than before.

So, when Hiccup finally spoke up, I was incredibly nervous.

"I'm always falling," he said in a hush. "No matter what I do, or where I go…I always fall."

"Falling?" I asked in as gentle a voice as I could.

"What?" The Color-Shifter asked me. I shushed him, and he clammed up, "Ah, r-right, my apologies, Savior, I—"

It took another hiss for him to actually be quiet.

Hiccup waited a beat. "Every time… _every_ time," he growled. "Every time I feel like I'm getting better, something happens and there's nothing I can do about it. It's like…like what Drago said about me belonging to him."

" _No, he wrong_ ," I said. " _He is stupid and dangerous._ "

"I know, but…but I feel like that _all the time_ , Toothless. And I'm just so _sick_ of it! I'm _so_ tired of being scared and always feeling like something horrible is about to happen! I'm _so_ tired of being some shadow's puppet and feeling so empty!"

I waited, trembling, as he sucked in a long breath.

" _I'm so sorry,"_ Hiccup croaked. "What I said earlier, it was _horrible._ I should have never put that on you. Drago was threatening to kill you and I just…I can't even _imagine_ living in a world without you. You're _everything_ to me, and—and he was threatening to _kill_ you, Toothless! And I…It was just one last horrible thing I could do nothing about. So when I said that, at least—at least _I_ could have been the one doing the bad thing after that, instead of anyone else… _anything_ else."

My breath was thin, my limbs locked. I swallowed thickly, shaking as though the ice freezing over my heart was actually killing me. I didn't dare speak, or Hiccup would hear the heartbreak in my voice and place all the blame on his own shoulders.

" _So stupid…_ " Hiccup said in a thin hiss. "All this time, I've just been fighting to make it go away by just…covering it up. I keep forcing myself to focus on other things and worry about it later, which is never. I keep telling myself that these things aren't real, and they aren't, I _know_ that, but at the same time they _are_ real. And all of that made it boil over, and I hurt you, Toothless."

He took one more shuddering breath and stopped. I scrambled to collect my thoughts.

I understood the logic of it, how everything in the past had made him feel so aimless, like he had no control over his life or what happened to us. How all of it could slowly build beneath the surface until it suddenly shifted, like an ice shelf snapping off into the ocean. I'd seen such events before: a great and cataclysmic slash materializing through a seemingly-solid surface and breaking it into pieces.

This was far more terrifying.

"… _Toothless?_ " Hiccup called. Now nervous and insecure, he stammered, "I'm…starting to need some feedback here… _you…mad?_ "

" _No! No, no!_ " I gasped, cursing myself for growing so silent at the _worst_ time. " _No, Hiccup, I'm not mad. I'm only…sad, and scared._ " More to myself, I added, " _Very scared._ "

Hiccup waited for me to decide what to say just as I had done the same for him.

" _That…was the truth, then…_ " I sighed, still not wanting to believe it. " _I understand why you feel so lost, Hiccup. And I'm here for you. I_ want _to hear all of this, okay? I'm proud of you for talking about this, okay?_ "

" _Okay_ ," he whispered, a little louder this time.

" _Do you_ always _feel like this?_ "

" _Yes…no?…_ ugh, it's so jumbled up," he moaned. "I have ups and downs, where…when I'm with you, and we're talking and flying, it's almost…normal. But then…when I get reminded…when I feel this shadow come up on me, I just feel like the real world is crashing in on some fantasy. It's hard to tell what it all really is, or…or what _I_ really am."

I struggled for something to say. Something to make him feel better without brushing it off. Of course I'd known he'd felt this way—he'd told me, for the gods' sake.

I'd had no idea it was getting _worse_ , when on the surface it seemed just the opposite _._ I had no idea he'd felt so disconnected with reality like this.

" _I'm sorry_ ," I whimpered. " _I'm sorry I never knew._ "

" _No, Toothless_ ," he said. " _I'm_ the one who messed up here."

" _But you no lie?_ " I asked, my heart skipping a beat. " _You no...you no hide this?_ "

" _No!_ " He rushed. "It was more of…hiding from myself…and forgetting that it wasn't normal." He gave a soft sigh. "You know…talking about this...it's hard and it _sucks_ , but...but I think I feel a little better about...about everything. Even though I feel like a huge jerk."

" _Talk_ always _good, Hiccup_ ," I reminded him. " _Thank you for talking to me. I know it hurts, but now we can work on it. Together._ "

" _Thank you, Toothless_ ," He said. " _I promise this will never happen again._ I know covering everything up made me _think_ I was getting better, but…Dragon of the Sun, I wish I'd realized how stupid I was being. I'm so sorry I hurt you, Toothless."

 _CLANG!_

Light burst into the cavern like an explosion, stinging my eyes not with heat but with frigid cold. A horrid gust of wind rushed through, prickling at my scales and the scuffs left behind by the ropes. I squinted against the stabbing brightness, pinning my ears and raising my lip.

One pair of footsteps, slow and confident. I blinked rapidly, saw what was standing directly in front of my cage, and cringed low to the ground.

The Shadow-Blender skin.

The monster.

I found myself searching the skin in vain again, praying for all I was worth. Father had had more noticeable markings on his scales than myself. The last time I'd seen him, my older brother had earned himself a few scars, none of which I could spot. And Mother…

Her scales…had been that shade…

"Rot in the Prebirth," I snarled at the monster. The Color-Shifter gasped.

His eyes flicked to the pieces of my muzzle. For some unearthly reason, this brought a sick grin to his face.

Without a word, he turned around towards Hiccup's cage. A sharp metallic sound, and it was flung open.

"Will you challenge me again, dragon-boy?" He rumbled in that grating, dragonlike voice.

He raised his claw-stick. I flinched. Behind the monster, I saw Hiccup do the same.

Still, my brother collected his feet beneath him and eased himself upright. He swayed and held his paws out for balance.

" _No, Hiccup!_ " I gasped. I began collecting gas in my throat to fire, but the damned thing was standing too close to Hiccup; he'd be injured, too, if I shot any fire of real substance.

" _It is fine_ ," Hiccup whispered, taking a deep and shaken breath. " _It is fine, it is fine, it is fine…_ "

Drago looped a rope around Hiccup's midsection, pinning his arms to the side. "Come!" He barked, like he was leading some simple, dumb animal.

"Why you—you damned—!" I roared.

" _I'm okay,_ " Hiccup whispered, his voice faint and weary. " _I promise, Toothless._ "

He let himself get dragged along. His legs were shaking as he almost stalked his way out, hunched over in a crouch and head low. He moved uneasily, favoring his many injuries, and his chest rose and fell in rapid, shallow breaths.

His eyes were bright in the sharp and cold light. They were fixed on the human monster with fear and trepidation.

And yet, deep within them, there was a small spark of defiance as well.

 **o.O.o**

Hiccup

He didn't say anything.

I wriggled around in the rope, but it was far too tight. It constricted right at my elbows, preventing me from using my arms at all. Pain bolted through my injured arm, my leg, my heart. Cold, nervous energy swept through my veins as we stepped out of the hull of the ship and through the fleet. Men and dragons alike stared, all of them with fear and shock.

My eyes flitted here and there, and my fears grew darker and darker at what I saw. There was not a single surface in sight unprotected by metal, men, and enslaved dragons. There would be no sneaking out of here—not with so many eyes trailing our movements, unblinking and watchful and glinting in the deep shadows like weapons glowing in the moonlight. I sniffed at the air and only found brine and cold and smoke.

There was no escape from this dark, freezing labyrinth. I lowered my head and ground my teeth together.

I had to be strong. I promised Toothless.

I let my eyes trail back to Drago. My heart rate spiked, sending a shudder down my spine. He seemed to suck in the shadows around him, shrouding himself in them. He swallowed any hope of getting away before it was even a dim thought in the back of my mind. He was so sure of my obedience that he didn't even bother keeping an eye on me.

A low growl rose in my throat and died there. _Focus, Hiccup._

We traced our path from ship to bridge to ship. Eventually we came upon one of the larger vessels, huge and deep. Drago tugged me along onto the bridge leading up to it.

We were halfway up when realization hit me. I froze. The rope went taut.

Drago turned and seared into me with his dead eyes. My skin crawled and my breath thinned as I fought to hold his gaze.

The man of shadows yanked me forward, and I stumbled and just barely managed to keep from slipping right off the plank and into the frigid waters. A crooked grin found its way to his lips, and he resumed our meandering path.

This ship was flanked by two others equal in size, all of them connected by bridges connected to elaborate locking mechanisms. We brushed past men working on repairs and carrying baskets of fish.

I caught a whiff of food, and my stomach roared. It had been so long since I'd eaten a real meal—the last I'd had were a few bites back at the King's nest.

Drago swung open a door near the captain's room, revealing a staircase that crept down into the hull.

I grimaced, wrinkling my nose and baring my teeth. " _It is fine,_ " I said on my breath.

Drago pulled me in. We entered the ship.

The song roared around us. I braced myself against it, swaying where I stood.

There must have been dozens of dragons in this ship alone. They were crammed into the cages so tight that they had barely any space to breathe, no less move around. Yet not a single one of them looked uncomfortable or raised their voice in complaint, their eyes blank and unfocused and their bodies still.

I spotted the elder Hum-Wing among them and straightened with a sharp gasp.

"You _._ "

I flinched away on impulse. Drago lurched me back towards him, his face cast in stone.

Meeting those dead eyes was almost painful, plunging sharp spikes of anxiety into my chest and scattering my thoughts. He was like a monster ripped right out of my nightmares and brought to life, keyed in on my greatest weakness and more than eager to use it against me.

The shadow had always been able to pick away at me, leaving me just as empty as my shell of magic, and he was just the same. But what's more, that had made me hurt Toothless. It was not Drago, but _me_ who had torn him to pieces, who had made him break down and _weep_ with despair for me.

I would never let myself do that to him again. I had to be strong. No matter how deep it stung, no matter how dizzyingly reality swam in and out of focus, no matter how much I wanted to push it aside for later, I had to be strong.

I forced myself not to look away, even as Drago's form merged with the darkness around him, seeming to surround me on all sides with his empty and uncaring eyes.

"You will speak to these dragons," he commanded. "You will cure them, or seal the slow death of your friend."

His tone held a challenge. He was testing me to see if I was willing to fight him again…to see if I would let these shadows consume me so deeply again.

I clenched my jaw shut and said nothing, even as guilt and shame flooded my thoughts. I would not stoop that low again. I would not betray Toothless and _myself_ like that, letting myself sink to such a selfish low.

Drago and I stared into each other.

"I don't know how to," I rasped.

Drago looked at me like that was _my_ problem, not his.

He grabbed onto the rope and dragged me like a disobedient mule towards the cages. I hissed with pain and revulsion, cringing away from his hand, but all he did was yank on it. It was only when we stopped just in front of the cages that he finally released the rope, letting it fall to the floor.

"Go ahead… _dragon-boy_." He said the term with a demeaning grin.

I offered a weak glare, which only seemed to amuse him even more. With no other option, I faced the cages and made my way over to the one holding the elder Hum-Wing. She was jammed in there pretty good, pressed up against the cage on one side and five dragons on the other. Her empty eyes were unfamiliar, like she wasn't real.

The sight sent another wave of anger and fear through me. I swallowed, fighting to keep my emotions under control.

Maybe now that I was closer to her…

" _Elder?_ " I whispered.

The song swirled around me like an undertow, tugging at me and trying to drag me down into the ocean's depths. I shook my head as a wave of nausea and lightheadedness rammed against me.

" _Elder!_ " I said, louder this time. " _Please, listen to me. I'm Hiccup. I'm your King. Do you hear me? Elder!_ "

The song surged about me, filling my ears with cotton. The shapes and colors of the dragons and cages blended together into a single, confusing mass. The song was emptiness incarnate, filling the world with nothingness, and my senses were useless in its grip.

My eyelids fluttered. Why was I here? Where was…?

"Speak!" Drago growled.

I was so dazed I didn't even jump. I just shook my head, pouncing after my scattering thoughts. The elder's eyes were set on me, but they were sightless—not like she'd gone blind, but like she wasn't _there_ anymore.

A small croon left me. " _Elder, I'm here,_ " I promised her." _Your King is here! Please, fight it—let me help you!"_

Her eyes might have flicked over to mine—but no, it was just my imagination, a desperate hope that I _wanted_ to believe. I knew already that this wouldn't work. I had spent hours inside a ship begging her to come back to me, just like right now.

My shoulders drooped and my face fell. I tried to get even closer, pressing my entire body up against the cage. My legs felt like they were made of lead, like I was struggling to slog through murky water, but I didn't stop until I was as close to her as physically possible. Closing my eyes, I pressed my head up against the cage, just barely managing to touch my forehead to hers through the bars.

" _I'm sorry, elder,_ " I mumbled. " _You're like this because of me. I'm your King, but you still hurt. I failed you._ "

The elder sang. I started to get dizzy again.

Just as Toothless and I had on the ships, I forced myself into speaking something, _anything_ , if only to block it out. " _I don't know how to help you._ Nobody _does...no me, no Toothless, no King of intruding nest...but I think the old King is wrong. He thinks soulfire will help this. But soulfire no help, it hurt more…_ "

The song jumped, a sudden pitch in shift. Then it resumed its whorl around me, muffling everything around me. I felt so heavy. I could almost feel the entire world spinning.

It was too much. I pulled away from the elder and turned to Drago.

"It's not working," I slurred, struggling to focus on his hard gaze.

He seemed to grow twice in size as he advanced upon me. "Do that again."

"Do…what?" I asked.

"You can't fool me, _dragon-boy_ ," he scoffed. "You did something—I heard it. Do it again."

I wrinkled my nose at him even as I shrunk away. I could almost feel a phantom tail thrashing, wings I no longer had opening wide to make myself look bigger. I wanted like nothing else to bare my teeth and snarl at him, but the shadows surrounding him were too great, his corpse-like eyes too sharp. The moment I fought back, he would retaliate by hurting Toothless.

Twisting towards the elder, I stalled, " _I hate this, elder. I want us go home—_ all _us, and I want to help you so so much. But…you no hear me…you only sing…_ "

Sing she did. I pressed close to her again, waiting longingly for a response I knew would not come.

After a full minute of pleading with her, I returned my eyes to Drago's.

This was what he had captured me for. What he was using _Toothless_ for. More than that, though, I wanted like nothing else to do just as he said, to heal our elder, to heal the song dragons. The elder was so close I could touch her, and there was still _nothing_ , no hint of recognition, no hint of herself. She was only an empty vessel, a shell of the proud, intelligent, overly-serious dragoness I had looked to for moons.

Now Drago would learn just how useless I really was…and then what?

"It's not working," I said, punctuating each word with a short pause. "I want to fix this, too, but—"

Drago's face contorted with rage. With a real and inhuman growl, he lunged for my throat with his clawlike hands.

I stumbled away with a sharp yelp, nearly losing my balance and falling over. Drago seized his chance; he was upon me in seconds, sucking the light out of the room, his eyes glinting with madness.

I backpedaled, bared my teeth, and snarled, " _Away!_ "

Without hesitation, Drago raised his arm and roared with all of the breath in his lungs, " _SUBMIT! SUBMIT! SUBMIT!_ "

Even though I was expecting it, I couldn't stop myself from flinching away, head lowered and teeth bared. Already tied up and knocked off-balance, it was all the distraction he needed.

His hand clamped around my neck, squeezing the breath out of me. My weak confidence fell away into nothingness. I wheezed as my vision filled with shadow-like spots and tried to wriggle out of his grasp. In moments, I was blind, my ears ringing, my skin breaking out into a cold sweat.

The world dissipated for a moment—and when it came back, I was sprawled on the ground, struggling to suck in the thin air. My skin was clammy and the strength sapped straight out of my limbs. I wheezed and coughed, blinking rapidly, but still I couldn't see.

The shadows swarmed all across my vision—they were still choking me—I couldn't feel _anything_ —they were killing me—!

"Do you want your friend to die?"

Drago towered over me, a great and dark mountain dominating my vision.

" _N-no!_ " I choked. Then, my brain sluggishly catching up to my mistake, "No!"

Drago's glare was cold and commanding. "You have one more chance. Or I add another pelt to my collection."

A burning wave of horror charged through me, chasing away the shadows lingering at my mind's edge. I snapped my head up, gasping breathlessly and trembling.

"I don't—know—!" I heaved.

It was so dark. I could barely see, or breathe, or move, or...

Drago flared his Shadow-Blender cloak to make himself even _bigger_ and lifted his bullhook. Dread and panic consumed me. The song curled through my ears.

 _No! No! Not again!_

I had to be strong. I had to fight back. I had to, or it would consume me again, I would submit to this monster again.

 _Toothless._

The shadow swirled through my mind and vision, cackling at my weak defiance. But I forced myself to meet Drago's empty stare, clawing everything else away. My head pounded with the effort, my heart raced so fast I thought it'd burst.

"I don't know," I heaved, my voice thin, "I promise you, I don't know how to cure it, or what the source is, or—"

"Source?" Drago repeated, eyeing me. "And where did you hear of this?"

I clammed up. "Um...around…"

Drago caught the misdirection right away. "From dragons?" He said, looming over me and setting the point of his bullhook on my chest. "Where?"

I caught the scent of blood on it. My stomach flipped circles. I gagged and leaned away.

"Answer me!" Drago snapped. He lifted a foot and pounded it into my chest, just like the Color-Shifter had done only a day ago. A sharp cry of pain escaped me. "I am your Alpha! You obey me!"

"Just…dragons!" I gasped, cringing away and watching the bullhook from the corner of my eye. " _They_ found me!"

Our eyes met again, and it was even harder this time under the crushing weight. But despite everything, I wasn't about to hand the King's nest over to this monster. I wasn't going to tell him about them so that he could turn around and cage them up in this torturous place.

The look in his eyes made it clear that Drago knew that I was hiding something.

He stepped off of me. "Up!"

I lied there, still deadlocked on those eyes.

Drago's lip curled up into a snarl, and he lifted his bullhook, spread his Shadow-Blender cloak, and growled, " _Up!_ "

I was almost frozen there, like the cold and the song had rendered me incapable of moving. The small defiance was exhilarating, warming me with just the slightest spark of hope.

Then his threats caught up with me. With a pained moan, I struggled to get my feet underneath me so that I could stand.

Drago lost his patience—not that he had any to begin with.

A sharp kick to the gut was my punishment. As I cried out and curled up there, he stooped down, snatched the rope in his talon-like hands, and pulled me up to my feet with it. My stomach churned, and suddenly I was grateful that there was nothing in it.

He shifted around so that he blocked the light from the door and leaned down, his face inches from mine. The song rang through my ears just as sharp as the pain springing from my abdomen.

"You are _mine_ ," Drago said, his voice harsh and grating. "Do not forget that. I control you, _dragon-boy._ "

" _No,_ " I said in a soft gasp. My body leaned away on its own accord, even as I struggled to remain where I was. It was like I was trying to be as sturdy as a stone against the ocean, but I was made of sand instead, a little more of me taken away with each crashing wave.

Drago leered as the moment stretched. I somehow managed to keep our eyes locked even as my body _screamed_ at me to turn and run as fast as I could. The shadow twisted and contorted in my vision and thoughts, waiting for the slightest opening.

I thought of Toothless. I drew his memory up and wrapped it around me in a cloak not of death and cold, but love and warmth.

" _It is fine_ ," I whispered, breathless and shaken but still here, still present instead of reduced to a frightened ball curled up on the ground, drowning in the past. It hurt—it was almost _unbearable_ —but I was _still here._

Drago drew back. He smirked.

"Have it your way, then."

 **o.O.o**

We were headed back the way we'd came.

I struggled long enough for Drago to stop and tighten the ropes around me. After that, he held it taut in his hands, always taking care to make sure it was so tight that it was basically choking me.

Instead of taking me back to the ship full of cages, Drago looped us towards one of the biggest ships we'd had the joy of visiting so far. It had an enormous tower rising out of it, and from that tower sprouted a balcony. We made our way up to it, climbing a winding staircase, and came to a stop just at the balcony's edge. It overlooked almost the entire armada—the men, the dragons, the ships.

All covered in shadow. All cold and sharp as steel.

I swallowed as anxiety clutched at my heart. "Nice view," I tried to say sarcastically, but it came out pitiful and breathless instead. My many hours of exhaustion and hunger were starting to catch up with me, and the ropes keeping me from breathing weren't helping.

Drago merely chuckled and pointed directly below at a ship beneath us. Its deck had a large arena just like the one I'd been thrown into earlier. Nobody was in it.

That didn't last long.

I heard the screeches first, echoing off the glaciers, ships, and metal like a phantom. I bolted upright, eyes wide, fatigue forgotten.

"No," I breathed. "No!"

Drago let a victorious grin settle on his lips.

"I don't know the cure!" I cried. "I don't know where the source is!"

"Hm."

The arena was opened.

Toothless was thrown in, screaming his spines off and throat glowing with fire. He whipped around towards the men who had dragged him into the arena, only to meet a wall of spears. He snarled vivid insults at them, so much so that the dragons milling around on the other ships lifted their heads in bafflement.

The arena doors clanged shut. Toothless paced at its entrance, searching for weak points and lunging at any men who got too close to the bars. But as much as he was trying to look in-control, he was completely exposed in there. His tail whipped and his wings fluttered, betraying his fear.

"Drago, _wait!_ " I gasped.

"Oh?" He mused. "Have you remembered something important?"

I stepped in front of him to try to block his view of Toothless, like that could somehow keep my brother safe. "Just tell me what you want."

Drago watched Toothless with a smug grin. "You have no place bargaining with me." He turned his eyes on me. "I want _all_ of my dragons to follow my command. And that includes you."

At that, he whipped around and stepped out towards an outcropping on the bird's nest, looking out over an empty space in the armada. He raised the bullhook and swung it above his head.

" _SUBMIT!_ " He ordered to the frigid ocean below. " _SUBMIT! SUBMIT!_ "

I took a step back as cold energy crept up my spine. _This is not good. This is_ not _good._

A deep rumble rattled me down to my bones. My heart plummeted at its familiarity.

The inky waters surged, the ships rocked. The dragons on the other ships shrunk down to their bellies and the alleyways frothed as the sea dragons tried to swim away.

The ocean exploded into a gale of mist that raced to the tips of the glaciers surrounding the encampment. A rain of ice-cold water fell upon us. Metal hit metal in sudden, piercing rings. The ships groaned and creaked as huge waves crested over them.

I caught sight of amber eyes glowing in those mists. A dark form shifted as the miasma settled.

My mouth opened and closed, but all I could do was shake my head in horror and disbelief. I glanced over at Toothless, who was standing in a perfect arch and gaping at what had emerged from the ocean's depths.

Covered in scars and metal chains, his spines drooping with fatigue, his young scales dull and paper-thin, his tusks cracked from the strain of his bindings, the mountain-sized dragon lowered his head and eyes in submission to Drago and whimpered a confused apology.

Even he was shrouded in shadows.

The dragon flicked his eyes up to me in curiosity and back down again. He was the same species as the King, but still much smaller—he hadn't grown to his adult size yet.

Drago turned to me, his lopsided grin widening as he took in my expression. "This is the Alpha of all dragons," he announced, pointing with his bullhook. The young King winced away. "And he looks to _me_ as _his_ Alpha."

I met the young King's eyes, and my heart filled with pity and empathy. " _Hello_ ," I greeted softly, doing everything I could to keep the fear out of my voice. " _I'm a friend._ "

The young King reared his head back, pupils thin with shock. Toothless followed my lead and shouted a much less gentle greeting to him, but he only briefly looked over at him before turning his baffled eyes back to me.

Drago chuckled. "Don't bother, dragon-boy." He pointed his bullhook. The young King and I followed it.

Toothless bared his teeth and lowered his head.

"You must learn," Drago growled. "The Alpha is mine. And so are you."

The young King shifted his attention to Toothless. The frills of his crown began to twitch, and his jaw began working up and down ever-so-slightly.

The rumbling returned, the very same one that I had noticed earlier. It was a _physical_ thing, shuddering deep into my bones, leaching into my ears. The entire armada rattled and trembled under the force of it.

Toothless jolted upright, his ears sticking straight up, and realization crashed into me.

" _No!_ " I shrieked. " _No! Stop, please!_ "

The young King glanced at me with the corners of his eyes and hunched over in defeat.

Toothless howled in defiance, shaking his head in a blur like a predator had pounced onto his back and he was trying to throw it off. He backed away, hissing and snapping at the air in a horrifying, rabid frenzy. His front legs gave out, and he clawed at his ears and writhed on the ground.

" _TOOTHLESS!_ " I heaved. I lurched away, only for the rope to pull taught.

Drago dragged me towards him, snatched my shoulders up in his claws, and held me there. "Watch," he said in a quiet voice just behind me, sending the hair on my neck standing straight up and my skin crawling. "Watch, and learn what happens when you believe you have your own will."

" _Toothless! Fight!_ " I almost sobbed, wringing around in Drago's gasp. " _I'm here! I know you can! Fight!_ "

My brother wrinkled his nose and glared with slit eyes at the young King. " _NO!_ " he roared.

Drago's hand tightened on my arm. Toothless squeezed his eyes shut, shaking with effort. A pained whine squeezed from his throat. It hurt more than any sword, more than any shadow that drowned me in its darkness. Panic rushed into my limbs.

I had to do something, I had to do something, I had to do _something!_

" _STOP!_ " I howled. I twisted to the side.

My teeth sunk into flesh.

Drago roared with fury and pain, throwing me aside.

The rumbling stopped, as did the vibrations shaking through my body. The young King stared at me in a mixture of fear and amazement.

Just below us, Toothless was curled up into a tight ball, claws gouging into his ears, his entire form trembling.

" _Toothless!_ " I cried, lurching up to my feet.

He didn't respond. He just lied there.

Drago studied his bite wound with calm distaste. "I don't know how you fooled all of Berk," he spat. "Even if you were once…You're not a human anymore, dragon-boy."

The words stung much more than I expected them to.

Again, I felt the emptiness inside me, the shadow leering down at me. I wasn't a human. I wasn't a dragon. The pain that hurled me through had led us here, and now Toothless was…Toothless was…

This was my fault. I did this. If I'd just played along, listened to this monster, submitted to the shadow, then at least _I_ would be the only one reaping the penalties.

This dragon was the same species as the King. He had powerful magic. He had the ability to use said powerful magic to reach into a dragon's mind, just as his elder had done to speak to me.

I had no doubt in my mind that he had just employed that exact power on Toothless by using the sheer, physical force of his voice to spread his magic.

" _Toothless_ ," I whispered, shaking and broken, pressing up as close to the balcony as I could. " _Toothless! Please, talk to me!_ "

"Your friend is mine now," Drago pressed. "You have nothing left. Give up." He tugged the rope and barked, "Come! Let us see how little you mean to him now!"

The short walk to the arena seemed to pass by in a heartbeat, I was so consumed with terror. The entire time, I refused to look away from Toothless, begging him to lift his head and send a sneer at the young King.

He was still huddled there, paws covering his head and wings drawn in, when Drago unlocked the arena. He sauntered right in, pulling me along like I was his sad, little pet.

"Now do you see?" Drago gloated, stepping right up to my fallen brother. " _This_ is what you are."

"No…" I breathed. " _Toothless…_ "

"You are mine, and so is he." Drago set me with a cruel grin. He lifted a foot and planted it firmly on Toothless' forehead.

A bolt of rage zipped through me. "Get off him!" I snarled for all I was worth, baring my teeth.

Drago lifted his bullhook and placed it on Toothless' neck. "Mind yourself, dragon-boy," he hissed. "You can talk, but that doesn't mean your words are worth anything."

"Then why go through this?" I demanded, my throat welling up and my voice shrill. "I already told you I'd do what you wanted!"

Drago's lip curled. "You should be thanking me," he said. "I could _kill_ your friend, if you'd like." He laughed as I stiffened. "Now, then, dragon-boy…tell me the _full_ story."

Toothless clamped his teeth around Drago's leg.

My heart had barely had the chance to leap with joy by the time Toothless had reared to his hind legs and launched Drago away, opening his wings with a victorious screech.

" _TOOTHLESS!_ " I exclaimed, rushing to him. He fell to his four paws, whipped towards me, and snapped his teeth at me.

The rope fell to my feet, and I could finally _breathe_ again. I threw myself at him, wrapping my arms around his neck.

" _I'm so sorry,_ " I said.

" _Me too_ ," Toothless whimpered guiltily, returning the hug. " _I needed to pretend._ "

Together, we faced Drago.

He'd gotten to his feet, his leg dripping with dark blood. His face was twisted with hatred and malice, stark shadows shooting across his features and making him look just as much a monster as he actually was. The young King had risen up behind him, eyes narrowed and teeth bared. Above us, men had gathered to watch, their eyes bugging out and hands resting on their weapons. I spotted Eret among them.

" _How?_ " Drago growled, his dead eyes almost glowing with rage. He pointed his bullhook at us again. The young King reared and opened his maw wide, waves of crystallized frost twirling around in it.

"We _are Kings!_ " Toothless roared. He shot his fire.

So did the young King.

Freezing ice clashed against searing fire directly in front of Drago, sending a burning-cold explosion through the arena. Steam rose around us.

We turned tail and ran towards the entrance. The door was shut—and locked. I reached through the bars and tried to feel around for something to lift, but the locking mechanism was too heavy. Drago was screaming orders. Dark shadows flitted about in the steam.

A figure drew closer from the outside. Toothless growled and, a moment too late, I wrenched my hand back and turned away.

Eret lunged at me, grabbed my shoulders, and pulled me against the bars. He fumbled around for a second, trying to find a good place to grip—and then a sharp knife was pressed against my neck.

"I got 'em!" He shouted.

Toothless pounded his claws against the cage, just inches from gouging into Eret's neck.

He must of snarled something at Eret—but I never heard it.

An all-consuming roar blasted through the air. It was so loud that it had a pressure to it, forcing me down. It drowned out everything else, from Drago's commands to the ringing in my ears.

The sky above blotted out as a wave of fog rushed through it like a tsunami. A torrent of cold rammed into me like a charging bull.

Immediately following it was a vibration of the air, something similar to the young King's magic but grander and ethereal. It didn't vibrate through my body like the young King's spell did. It wasn't physical at all, but something almost like the shadow, something that wasn't _real_ but still was all the same. It cut _deep_ , straight through my panicked, scrambling thoughts, and tried to take root there.

It was the same _thing_ I had felt last time, right before I had flown directly towards Bertha's ships.

I knew what would follow.

The ship lurched underneath us like we were in the middle of an earthquake. Eret's grip loosened. I ripped away from him and threw myself at Toothless, wrapping my arms around his ears. We pressed up against each other as the vibrations got louder, filling my head with the sound of a thousand insect wings and making my skin prickle. Dizziness made the world sway.

I squinted up through the fog and was met with the sight of the young King rearing to his full height. His back was turned towards us and his paws were braced against the tops of the glaciers.

He flared the fins on his sides and sent an avalanche of ice down into the ocean.

The vibrations increased in intensity. Toothless and I clutched onto each other like it was poison that would consume us if we let go.

The young King swayed. He shook his head, his frills flopping around. It wasn't him. He was just as disorientated as we were, just as vulnerable...and he had nobody to turn to for help.

With panicked eyes, he shot more ice into the ocean. Another pounding wave made everything turn to blurs. Every creature in the vicinity crashed to the ground. There was a second world-consuming roar.

I clenched my eyes shut and pressed my forehead against Toothless', holding his ears and side-frills as tight as I could. He leaned into me with clenched teeth. My head spun at dizzying speeds. I tried to focus on something— _anything_ —but whatever it was barraged my every thought. With every attempt to ignore it, it became all the more obvious in my mind.

We braced ourselves against the deluge.

The feeling began to fade.

At some point, Toothless and I had both fallen to the ground, holding each other close as we tried to fight it off. The entire world felt so unsteady that I was almost afraid to try to stand up again, like the moment I got my feet underneath me I'd just get knocked back over again.

Toothless jolted, eyes wide, and bared his teeth behind me. I couldn't hear his hiss—the roar and vibrations still echoed in my ears, muffling everything out.

I whipped around in time to see a wave of men pouring into the arena. To see them rushing in and not hear anything—not even the pounding of my heart—was a horrifying feeling. I struggled to my feet just in time for them to surround us.

Eret was leading them. The majority of them were his men, the whole group of them shooting concerned looks over their shoulders at where Drago had been last. He made sure I was looking at him, and then pointedly focused on my flightsuit.

Toothless collapsed to the ground.

" _Toothless!_ " I gasped. I couldn't hear my own voice.

Three colorful darts were sticking out of his neck. I ripped them out as fast as I could, but the damage was done. He flopped his wings and tail around as he struggled to rise to his feet.

By the time I'd turned back to Eret, Drago was standing at his side, the young King looming above with wide, terrified eyes.

Drago didn't look surprised—if anything, he had a look of recognition on his face. He narrowed his eyes at me and gestured at Eret and his men.

The swarm flooded in. My head whirled with confusion and disorientation.

Hands grasped at me, holding me in place. I was shoved back as men thrust me out of the arena. Toothless was wrapped up in ropes again and forced groggily to his feet, his tail and wings dragging and his nose nearly pressing into the ground.

Back onto a ship we were lead—back down a ramp into the hull—back into dark and cold cages—all in a world as silent as death. Shadows swirled around us.

Toothless was unconscious by the time the team of men had hauled him into his cage. The Color-Shifter was pressed up against the back end of his own confinement, curled up and unmoving.

Eret was the one to throw me in my cage. Again, he looked into me meaningfully, like he thought I would launch at him and sink my teeth into him. His hands lingered on my shoulders in a firm grip.

I shrunk away, trying to hide my hands from view. Somehow, in the confused aftermath of… _whatever_ that was, nobody had remembered to tie them up.

As if reading my mind, Eret glanced right down at my very-not-tied-up hands.

He grinned dashingly, backed up, and shut the cage. Without another word—not that he _could_ talk when all of us couldn't hear anything—he left with his men. The door outside was closed, leaving me in nothingness, dazed and chest tight with anxiety.

I had an idea of what that fog meant. Why the young King had fired at the empty ocean.

I clutched at my chest as I struggled to breathe—only to jump when my fingers brushed against something that I definitely had _not_ put there.

It felt like ages ago that I'd crafted my flightsuit. Back then, I'd clumsily added pockets to it so that I could store needle and thread in case my wings ripped open.

Now I reached into my pocket. My fingers brushed against the cold metal.

I pulled it out and grasped it in my hands, my mouth parted with amazement.

Eret hadn't forgotten to tie my hands up. He hadn't been staring at me so much in search of retaliation. He hadn't been the first to try to recapture us for mere glory. He hadn't locked Toothless and me up in the same ship again because there was nowhere else to put us.

But he had given me a key.


	19. Chapter 18

**Hello, everyone! I hope your New Year went well!**

 **Before we start, I'd like to thank** **Surprise Crayfish, T-thenightfury, FadedDiamondDust, sadman, Flopy, CrisDLZ, Samateus-Taal, Varghul, Brenne, Nacktgranate, Cyeithen, TheWhisperingWarrior, NightShadow9558, MisstyX0007, Anonymous Noob the 2nd, Aquawyrm, TheFuriousNightFury, xSkiesOfBlue11, Elt-1080, Penelope Valentine, Alexisminas, veije, Crysist, and all anonymous reviewers for all of your wonderful reviews! I'd also like to thank my beta Crysist for all your hard work going over this chapter!**

 **Reviews are always welcomed, as always! Seriously, I smile even at keyboard smashes and mindless screaming. They have heart!**

 **I hope you all have a wonderful day!**

* * *

 **Chapter 18**

Astrid

"I wonder how Drago will treat ya?" Bertha sneered. "Surely the lot 'a you are too dumb to be of any use."

The Chief didn't respond, scouting the ocean ahead with a spyglass. We were surrounded by blue, with the ocean and sky blending almost seamlessly together, like we were sailing underwater and the real world was far, far above us. The only breaks in it all were our three ships and a small island out on the horizon.

"Now that I think of it, I wonder what he's doin' ta that monster ya call yer son? Probably put a muzzle on 'im fer bitin' poor old Thuggory."

I shared a confused, startled look with my friends. Hiccup… _bit_ someone?

The Chief stood firm to her barrage of insults and threats, save for a slight tightening of his hand on the spyglass. She was testing his armor, poking around for a weak point so that she could lunge with her sword. He wasn't even giving her the opportunity.

Bertha grinned in spite of this, eyes locked on the Chief's back. "Or who knows? Maybe he got infected like tha rest 'a the dragons, and he can't do anythin' now."

"Can we throw her overboard already?!" Snotlout snapped.

"Oh! I wanna be the one to throw her!" Ruffnut exclaimed, raising her hand up and bouncing in place.

"No, _I_ want to do it!" Tuffnut said, shoving his sister. Barf and Belch grabbed both of them by the napes of their shirts and separated them.

"Nobody is gettin' thrown overboard!" Gobber said. He shot Bertha an almost playful smirk. "And if we _do_ throw someone over, it'll be _me_ doin' it."

Bertha stuck her chin up and turned her head away. "Ya need me, obviously. Ya still don't know where Drago's armada is, don't'cha?"

Bertha had told us enough—but she had refused for hours to give up _where_ Drago's army was, meaning that we still had no clue where Hiccup and Toothless were.

There was a soft snap. The Chief hooked the spyglass back into his belt. His eyes lingered out at the ocean's horizon for a few seconds before he turned around to face us.

"Infected?" He repeated. "The dragons are ill?"

Bertha beamed, showing all of her teeth in something that kind of looked like a snarl. "Oh, that got yer attention, didn't it?"

The Chief took one heavy step towards her. She flinched.

"You've already started talking. Why stop now?" The Chief said. "Would you like to help us test the waters for sea dragons?"

There was a crack in Bertha's triumphant expression. Her eyes flickered out at the ocean.

"Hookie!" Snotlout sang, pointing at the Chief of the Bog Burglars.

Hookfang crouched, wriggled his rump, and pounced.

"Alright! Alright!" Bertha shouted, scrambling away.

She was too late; Hookfang had already nipped at her arm, and was keeping a firm—yet gentle—hold on her with his teeth. He tilted his head to glance behind him at Snotlout.

"Good boy, Hookie!" Snotlout cooed, putting his hands on his knees and making his voice as high-pitched as he could. "Who's the smartest dragon on the ship? You are! You are!"

Hookfang wriggled in place, chirping excitedly. Stormfly tried to get in on the action, too, but I managed to grab onto her and hold her in place.

I looked over at Fishlegs and Meatlug and almost lost my composure at the unimpressed look they were sharing. Meatlug huffed with a roll of her eyes and shook her head.

"Not worth it, huh?" I whispered to them.

"Well, we gotta let them feel smart _sometimes_ ," Fishlegs said. Meatlug nodded solemnly.

The Chief took another step towards Bertha. "What do you know?"

"I'll tell ya when ya get yer mongrel dragon off 'a me!" She spat.

Narrowing his eyes, the Chief said, "Snotlout, tell your dragon to pick her up."

"Gladly!" Snotlout cackled. "Hookie—"

"No!" Bertha yelped. "Alright!"

Everybody waited.

Bertha's eyes almost seemed to be made of fire. " _Alright_ ," she ground out. Despite being tied up and having her arm in the jaw of a Monstrous Nightmare, she straightened up as best as she could and smirked. "There's somethin' in the archipelago that's turnin' all the dragons dumb. They do nothin' but make lots 'a noise, and any dragon that hears it turns dumb, too."

My eyes widened. I put a hand on Stormfly and shot Snotlout a look. He returned it with wide eyes.

Now Bertha's grin was cruel. "I hate ta break it ta ya, Stoick, but when yer little monster was on my ship, he started ta get infected, too."

I tensed.

The Chief's cool exterior fell away. For a brief moment, his eyes widened with real fear and his skin paled. He and Gobber glanced at each other.

Bertha laughed deep in her belly. "Ya might _find_ him, alright, but will ya really?"

"Yes," I said. I held Stormfly close and met the Chief's eyes. "There's a way to get them out of it. Snotlout and I did it to Stormfly and Hookfang. Even if Hiccup's… _infected_ …there's still a chance."

"Hiccup seemed fine to me," Fishlegs added. He crossed his arms and glared at Bertha, and Meatlug lumbered up close to him with bared teeth. "He was fighting back until you shot him with some darts."

"But how can ya really be so sure?" Bertha asked. "He's in Drago's hands now, and probably has been for hours. He's been surrounded by infected dragons by now. If just five of 'em was enough to make 'im slip under, what's a couple hundred or so gonna do?"

My mind flashed back to when Stormfly was "infected". She alone had been enough to make Toothless woozy. I didn't know how much of that was his exhaustion and injuries, but it didn't matter; Hiccup was in just as bad a shape as him, if not worse.

Now _both_ of them were being exposed to it at full-force.

The Chief composed himself, staring at Bertha with hard eyes. "If Drago Bludvist wants my son, he'll need to do a lot more than lock him up. Hiccup has always been a fighter, even when he's beaten down."

An abnormally-large wave swept us up and down. The ships swayed back and forth and the sails rattled.

All of the dragons stiffened.

A distant roar echoed across the waters, making the wood beneath my feet vibrate and the ocean churn. Out on the horizon, the waters exploded with grasping claws and filled the sky with fog.

Stormfly pressed up close to me, crouching low and whipping her tail. Meatlug growled. Hookfang released Bertha and curled up behind Snotlout. Barf and Belch stood protectively over the twins, eyes narrowed.

The Chief watched all of our dragons' reactions, grabbed his spyglass, and checked out the fog.

With a jolt, I realized it looked exactly like the cloud I'd spotted the morning Hiccup had been taken.

"Don't bother," Bertha said. "That's been happenin' more and more lately, and all it does is throw us off-course." She snickered. "Oh, and sometimes infected dragons fly around in it. Maybe we'll be lucky, and they'll fly out over here and take care of these mongrels?"

The fog was in the direction that we knew, in general, where Drago's armada lied in wait. I seriously doubted that was a coincidence.

"Let's go check it out," I blurted. "We...we can fly with our dragons and skirt around it. Maybe we'll find more ships, or Drago's army."

"Rescue mission!" Ruffnut cried.

"No," the Chief said. "The only reason you're still here is because we're too far out for you five to find your way back to Berk. I'll not have you fly on a dragon straight towards a madman _collecting_ dragons."

"We can handle it," Snotlout brushed off, flapping his hand. "They'll never see us coming! But, uh, I really need some rope to hang on."

"I think it's a _wonderful_ idea," Bertha said.

I shot her a look and said to the Chief, "Snotlout's right. They would never expect people to fly with dragons and scout out the area. We can stay high enough up that their catapults can't reach us."

"Also, I kind-of have doubts about sailing towards an _armada_ without knowing what to expect," Fishlegs admitted nervously.

"And what about the infected dragons?" The Chief reminded us. He glared at Bertha. "They may just release some towards you, just as the Bog Burglars did after attacking Berk. Hiccup told me something was very wrong with those dragons. I'll bet you hoped that you could do the same to ours."

Bertha shrugged. "A shame it didn't work, really."

"You, madam, are _not_ a nice person," Tuffnut said, pointing accusingly from underneath his dragon's wing.

"Our dragons are much faster than these ships," I pressed. "I'm not saying that we go after Toothless and Hiccup, just check out what we can and come back here. If we run into infected dragons, we can just fly away from them."

"Do you even know _how_ ta ride a dragon?" Gobber drawled. "Ya told us earlier ya had no control of 'em."

I grimaced. "Uh…"

The Chief sighed. "It's a good idea, Astrid. But you'd never sail a ship without a rudder into battle. This is no different. It's dangerous enough as it is _without_ dragons that don't listen."

"We have Meatlug!" Fishlegs piped up. "She can coordinate everything—right, Meatlug?"

Meatlug blinked, rearing her head. She eyed the fog still swirling over the ocean and pinned her ears with a low growl.

" _Please_ , Meatlug?" I asked. "For Hiccup and Toothless?"

Meatlug growled again. She looked pointedly at both Stormfly and Hookfang and shook her head. Stormfly straightened up with a squawk.

Next thing I knew, she'd grabbed my shirt in her beak and thrown me onto her shoulders. Stormfly launched into the air, squealing as she flapped as hard as she could.

" _STORMFLY!_ " I screeched, clinging to her spines and just barely keeping my grip. The wind caught my voice and flung it away, leaving me breathless. For a second, I almost considered letting myself fall off of her so another dragon could catch me.

It took one look at the ships, which were now as small as toys, for me to scratch that idea.

"Stormfly, _no!_ " I shouted in as commanding a voice as possible. I yanked on her crown as hard as I could to get her attention. "Wait, girl! I wanna go, too, but you're kinda proving the Chief's point right now. We gotta get him to trust us as a team! And I need rope!"

Stormfly had leveled out and begun to hover over the tiny ships below. She was watching me with her bright, deep eyes. I found myself staring into them, still amazed by the depth of emotion in them, before shaking myself off.

" _Down_ , girl," I said, pointing. "Please. _Down._ "

Stormfly let out a sound that could only be described as "little kid complaining about having to do something".

" _Down!_ " I said in a more commanding tone. For good measure, I grabbed one of her crown spines and pulled on it so that her nose was pointing towards the ships.

Stormfly huffed and glared at me. I pursed my lips and sent the look right back.

"I swear I will jump off of you!" I threatened, even though it was a complete lie and she couldn't understand it anyways.

Stormfly blinked at me. With an overdramatic sigh, she lazily tipped her wings and let us fall. Her descent was heart-droppingly _fast_ ,the wind roaring in my ears and whipped my braid about. It was all I could do not to fall off. Still, I did notice that she was going down at a flatter angle, making sure to shoot a look behind me every couple of seconds.

Less than a minute after she'd snatched me up, Stormfly swooped up over the ship, flapped wildly, and dropped to the deck.

The Chief did _not_ look happy.

"I told her to do that!" I exclaimed breathlessly. "I told her to stop and go down, and she did!"

" _After_ she kidnapped you," the Chief said. "Again."

"She just _really_ wants to help," I said, still gasping for air. I took a moment to regain control of my breathing and said, "But you saw how fast she was. If there's any danger, we can just fly away. And we'll get there a lot faster than the ships. If Bertha won't tell us where they are, we need to find them as fast as possible—and it's already been hours."

Fishlegs approached Stormfly's side with some cloth and rope. I grabbed the rope and looped it around Stormfly's neck. Her eye caught the tip of it, and she lunged for it.

"Stormfly, _no!_ "

Stormfly halted, her beak inches from the swinging bit of rope. She chirped at me, head tipped aside in clear confusion. Fishlegs hurriedly grabbed the rest of the rope and gave it to me so I could tie a loose loop around her. She made sure to snap at it one more time, but didn't mess around with it after that.

The Chief and Gobber exchanged a look. Gobber shrugged with an overdramatic grimace. I squirmed around on Stormfly, biting my lip.

"Five hours," he finally sighed. "That's enough time for it to start getting dark. I want you to fly as high up as you can and stay out of sight. Come back once the sun _begins_ setting. If we're close to the armada, we cannot light torches at night. You must be here before it's too dark to see us."

"Right, Chief!" I said. I shifted the cloth around on Stormfly's shoulders and sat down on it. Grabbing the rope, I straightened up and forced as much confidence into my voice as I could. "We won't let you down."

" _Rescue mission!_ " Ruffnut whooped, jumping up and down.

"Can someone _please_ give me some rope?" Snotlout asked in exasperation.

The others scrambled for supplies, fighting over what spare rope was left and any sort of padding that could be used as an "emergency saddle". Flying bareback was, unsurprisingly, really hard on the legs. I was already sore just thinking about it.

Meatlug growled some more, but this time it was directed at the dragons. All of them bobbed their heads at her. She met my eye and huffed unhappily, but didn't seem to object to us going any more.

In all of the chaos, the Chief approached Stormfly's side. She chirped and bumped her nose against his shoulder. He ignored her, and she began to incessantly prod him until he put a hand on her nose.

"Astrid," he said. "I trust you to keep everyone safe."

I nodded, filled with both pride and terror at the responsibility.

"But if you find him…if you find _both_ of them… _either_ of them…"

"I'll do whatever it takes," I said. Leaning forward, I gave Stormfly a firm pat. "Both of us will."

"And if you do find them," the Chief said with unmasked weariness, "and they're not infected as Bertha says…please, tell Hiccup how sorry I am. Tell him I understand if he cannot forgive me."

I stuttered like a complete idiot before getting ahold of myself. "R-right, Chief. But…whatever happened…I don't think Hiccup would be mad at you. If anything, Chief, I'd think he wants to talk to you as much as you want to talk to him."

The Chief gave a wry smile. "I hope so."

"I think you're being too hard on yourself," I said. "Hiccup has avoided the hell out of the village, but he's never been _mad_ at anyone. Especially recently, with how he's been trying to be around the village more. He just…needed time. After everything. It's only been a few weeks since everything went down...that kind of stuff doesn't just go away."

"I know," the Chief said. He sighed. "And you're right. Thank you, Astrid."

"Ready to go, Astrid?" Fishlegs asked, perched precariously atop a very serious Meatlug.

I nodded and glanced over the sheer insanity that was our rescue group. Vikings— _riding_ dragons. On _purpose._ With nothing more than some flimsy rope to hang on and cloths draped over the dragons. The sense of control we had was as loose as the ropes; everyone knew that we would fly at the dragons' whims…but we would be working _together._

"Hiccup is going to go nuts when he sees this," I muttered. "Alright, guys, let's go!"

Meatlug let out a shriek and burst into the sky, leading our dragons higher, higher, higher. The dragons immediately fanned out behind her, with Meatlug at the front, Barf and Belch at her right side, Stormfly at her left, and Hookfang swaying around just above. All of us struggled to hold on.

Despite it all, the air filled with whoops and laughter.

The air was cold and sharp, and the ocean and ships were an exhilarating drop below us. It was like the world had stretched in front of us, and all I had to do was to reach out and pluck Hiccup and Toothless back to us. Up here was wild and dangerous, but it was also _free_ , giving the sense that anything was possible and that the problems of our world, so small below, had the easiest solutions.

Now I understood why Hiccup had worked so hard on his fake wings. Why his eyes, dull and empty, would trail along the paths that the dragons of Berk traced through the sky.

I closed my eyes and let myself enjoy the moment.

Stormfly turned hard to the left, forcing me to actually pay attention. I clung to her with my arms and legs as Meatlug took us in a wide arc towards the mountain of fog before us.

"Hey, hold up!" Snotlout shouted, the wind catching his voice and making him seem far away. "Are we going in the right direction?"

"We are, but maybe you aren't!" Tuffnut laughed, lounging carelessly on Barf's neck. "No shame in turning back, Snotlout! More glory for the rest of us!"

"No, _idiot!_ " Snotlout growled. He was clinging to Hookfang as tight as he could. He raised an unsteady hand just high enough to point. "Look!"

I followed his finger to…nothing.

"Are you sure you didn't hit your head or something?" Ruffnut asked, leaning casually against Belch's head spines. "It's not like we got a cornucopia of magic fog clouds to pick from!"

Peering ahead showed nothing but fog and endless blue, so infinite that it made me feel smaller than the tiniest speck of dust. "Snotlout, what are you—"

I cut myself off, straightening my back and blinking in surprise.

"Astrid?" Fishlegs asked, grasping his rope so tight his knuckles were white. Meatlug was eyeing me as well. "Wait, is this really a problem?"

"I…" I shook my head. "I don't know."

"Well if you're done being all cryptic, would ya mind explaining it to us not-crazy people?" Ruffnut shouted.

"No! No!" Tuffnut exclaimed. "Keep it a surprise! Then it'll be really cool later!"

"Gods, are you guys _blind?_ " Snotlout groaned. " _Look!_ "

Meatlug began to growl.

"The island that was there is _gone!_ "

 **o.O.o**

Hiccup

I awoke to the steady hollowness of the song.

I blinked against the darkness, caught in a blind daze and my mind shrouded in fog. One of the first things I became aware of was the wonderful discovery that I'd reached the stage of hunger and dehydration where it began to be painful and distracting. Pretty much _all_ of my body was sore in some shape or form, and each breath brought with it a sharp zing of pain through my heart. I struggled to remember when and how I'd been wounded.

" _Hm_ ," I hummed, digging my claws into the shroud over my memories and struggling to free them. " _Hm…_ "

There was a metallic clang somewhere above. I jolted with shock. It was enough.

The cage, separated from Toothless. Facing the shadow of my mind for what it was. Drago's looming threats. The song dragons. The arena. Toothless. The Alpha. Fog and deafness. Cages again. Toothless. Silence. Exhaustion.

" _Toothless!_ " I yelped, leaping to my feet and smacking my skull on the top of the cage. Vivid spots swarmed across my vision. I hissed, rubbing my now-pounding head. Whatever sleepiness I still felt was whisked away.

 _Now_ I remembered after that wake-up call. In the thick, heavy silence after we had been caged up again, I had been too worried to use the key when I couldn't hear anyone coming. So I had waited, barely gripping to consciousness and aching with pain…and had dozed off at the worst possible time.

" _Toothless?_ " I called again. " _Please, talk to me!_ "

The song swirled through my head.

With a nervous growl, I ripped the key out of my pocket and stretched my hand out. The bars of the cage were just wide enough for me to fit my arm through. I pressed up against them, smacking my hand around in desperate search of the lock.

My hand clanged into something hard and firm at the edge of my cage. My heart lifted.

I could barely hold the key straight, I was so tired and hungry and delirious with fear and joy. It took me much longer than normal to figure out the right orientation to push the key in and the right direction to turn it.

A soft _click._ The bars inched away.

It took all I could not to burst out of it, the freedom of it so sudden and enticing that I nearly forgot myself. Withdrawing the key, I crept forward with my free hand outstretched. The song grew just a little louder.

I found his cage. Then his lock. With shaking hands and my heart hammering so loud that I thought it'd give me away, I tried to put the key in.

It only went in halfway. With a muffled growl, I put more force behind it, wiggling it side to side.

The key snapped into the lock. It turned. The cage opened.

" _Toothless!_ " I wheezed, wrenching it out and stumbling towards him. His tail must have been near the door, because I tripped on it and fell right onto him. "Woah! _Sorry!_ "

I stopped, panting.

Toothless was completely silent. The song was coming from somewhere else.

" _Toothless_ ," I sighed in relief, putting a hand on his neck to feel his warmth and steady heartbeat. " _You're…okay. You're okay! You're…_ "

A torrent of loneliness and powerlessness overcame me. I clenched my jaw and wrapped my arms around his neck, curling up close to him and burying my nose into his scales. It was so, so, _so_ cold here in this armada, like it was made of the very glaciers that surrounded and protected it. Now, more than ever, did I _need_ to feel Toothless' warmth, for him to wrap me up with his wings and reassure me that I wasn't going to screw up _again_ and get us killed.

He couldn't—not when he had three doses' worth of sedative shot into him. Not with this shadow cloaked over us in its suffocating hold. I pressed close to him one last time.

" _I'm so sorry._ "

I had to drag myself away from him, shivering in the frigid chill. My limbs locked up like I was slogging through mud. Every part of me screamed to stay here with him, and every step further made the overcoming darkness all the more heavier.

As I stumbled out of his cage, my prosthetic foot caught on something. I stopped and nearly fell over again trying to get it untangled. It was a strip of metal chain—probably the support for Toothless' muzzle before he ripped it apart.

I ducked out and shut the door behind me, only to hesitate with the key hovering over the lock. The door was hanging slightly ajar, and every time I pushed it in all the way, it would bounce _just_ noticeably out of its frame.

My mind flashed to that brief moment the first time we had been dragged down here, when Toothless had lunged at the cage with all of his might. If something happened before I could warn him it was unlocked, if he threw himself at the door expecting it not to give…

He would break free...and he would be killed on the spot.

It was a risk I wasn't willing to take.

" _I'm...I'm_ so _sorry_ ," I moaned as I twisted the key. The soft _click_ was as damning as a scream of betrayal.

I had to take a deep breath to refocus. With gritted teeth, I tilted my head side to side to try and find the source of the song. My ears, as always, were muffled and useless, made even worse by the buzzing-thoughts effect the song had on me. It was almost impossible to tell with the echoes in the metal hull, but I still got an idea—and my heart dropped.

I tiptoed towards the cage, searched around for the lock, and pushed the key in. It opened much more easily than Toothless' cage had. The song was swarming around me now, making my head spin.

" _Color-Shifter_ ," I murmured, dropping to four paws and creeping close to him. He didn't so much as twitch as I prodded him with a gentle paw.

He was singing. He was curled up in the corner, his wings pulled in tight like he was trying to hide, but he was singing. I dropped my head, clenching my eyes shut as the song threatened to pull me under.

I needed to stop him somehow. If _I_ had woken up dazed by the song, I didn't even want to think about how much it would affect Toothless. The thought of him regaining conscious only to slip away into the emptiness of it sent a shudder wracking through my body.

Step by step, I crawled over him until I made my way to his head. As gently as I could, I grabbed him by his chin and lifted his head up. He must have been awake—if one could even call it that—because he held himself upright even after I pulled away.

Swaying and disorientated, I took the metal chain and wrapped it tight around his long, slender snout. The empty song muffled, no longer whirling round and round my head, but instead something far-off and almost tolerable.

Even with that improvement, I still needed to speak constantly to fill that void, or risk it sucking me away into its folds.

" _I'm sorry_ ," I murmured, grasping his cheeks in my paws and touching my forehead against his. " _You trusted me, and now you're a song dragon._ " Blinking in the darkness, I resolved, " _Color-Shifter, I'll save you. I promise, me and Toothless will find your King, we...we'll even talk to him about soulfire, and we will go here, and we will save everyone._ "

His breath hitched.

" _Color-Shifter?_ " I asked. I hugged him tighter to my chest, even as the song vibrated through me and made everything seem distant and hollow and far away. " _I'm here! Savior here! I'll save you, I promise! Please talk!_ "

He shuddered. It wasn't really a response—but after seeing singing dragons barely function at all, it was just as jarring as if he had risen to his feet and roared at the top of his lungs. Drago had been right; it wasn't a coincidence. It was _something_ , something I did that gave him the slightest pause. In this frigid, dark cavern, it was like the warm glow of fire.

For a single breath, the song faded in his throat.

The door outside clanged open.

"I'll get 'em, don't you worry!" Came the confident, obnoxiously-loud voice of Eret. "Wouldn't want that Night Fury to try to shoot you again, right? I kinda get the feeling it'll try to kill you on sight at this point!"

The Color-Shifter began to sing again. I growled in helpless frustration and scrambled away. The light coming in was as sharp as always, and the bulky silhouette of Eret filled it in its entirety. I closed the cage as quietly as I could and wasted no more time, leaving it unlocked.

Eret was just walking in when I shut my own door behind me. He stopped in front of my cage and quirked an eyebrow.

"Honestly, is that even _comfortable?_ " He asked, gesturing at all of me.

It took a second's worth of confused staring at my wingsuit before I realized that he was talking about how I was standing: crouched on all four paws, head low, phantom wings poised and invisible tail swaying.

A few days ago, I would have rushed to get into a more "normal" position, confused and wary. Now I only shifted around a little and lifted my head.

"More comfortable than a cage," I rasped. My mouth was dry, making my voice weak and thin instead of the sarcastic confidence I really wanted. Eret stepped aside to check on Toothless, and I stayed completely still, eyes locked on him.

Eret took quick notice and did a double-take. "Are you keeping me out of your blind spot?" He laughed. He reached for his belt and produced a key and some rope. His confident grin wavered a second, and he said with just a little less confidence, "Now, no biting, you hear me?"

He went to unlock the cage—only to blink at seeing it already open. Our eyes met.

Eret jangled the key in the lock, making the gesture as loud as possible. Then he swung open the door. I rose to two feet and let him tie my hands together in front of me. He clamped down on my shoulder with both hands, spun me around, and pushed me forward. My legs shook from soreness and weakness from hunger.

"Wait," he muttered, so quiet that I thought I'd imagined it.

I twisted around to look at him, searching his face for any sort of clue. He'd given me a key—he'd known I'd used it and he had said nothing—but why? I wanted to trust him, but he was the one who tookme to Drago in the first place. Even if he wanted to help for some reason, could I trust him not to change his mind again?

The thoughts gave me pause. Suddenly I was transported back through time, to a dark night just a few weeks ago. So many things had weighed down on my mind then—and it hadn't even been the _start_ of all of this. A humorless smile cracked across my lips as I found myself _longing_ for those difficult times, even feeling a little nostalgic over their complex simplicity.

 _So this is how Dogsbreath felt when we first talked to him_ , I thought. _How most of_ Berk _felt._

Eret pulled me into the freezing, open air, snapping me back into my shadow-cloaked reality. "And here you are!" He presented, like he'd done his master an enormous favor.

Drago's lip curled, the very sight of me somehow disgusting to him. He leered into me with those dead eyes. A cloud seemed to sweep over the sun, sucking the light away. "Come!" He barked.

After yesterday, I wasn't taking any chances.

We wandered from plank to plank through the city of ships. I tried to keep track of our pathway, but it was too much. There was too much noise, too much to look at, too much pain in my limbs and in my starved stomach. The harder I tried to focus, the more disorientated I became. Specks of brilliant light floated across the sheer nothingness that was Drago Bludvist.

Something _did_ catch my eye—or rather, the absence of something.

"Where is everyone?" I murmured to myself, craning my neck to look around. An eerie silence had fallen over the city, like it was lying in wait, ready to pounce. Men were milling about, but that was all.

Drago tilted his head just slightly towards me. We began to climb up another tall bird's nest overlooking the armada. When we reached the top, Drago grabbed my bound hands and yanked me forward. I tried to wrench away from him, only to freeze at the sight before me.

The arenas weren't empty anymore.

Just as the cages yesterday had been, the arenas were so tightly packed that the victims inside them couldn't even stretch a wing out or shift position. There were dozens of them, forming giant swirls of color where it was hard to tell where one dragon ended and the other began. No men were standing guard over them.

I couldn't hear them, but I didn't have to. The dragons were just _there_ , doing nothing and being nothing.

"Take a long look at them," Drago said, his voice low and calm, prickling at the hairs on the back of my neck. "Don't you want to prevent this?"

"Yes," I whispered, struggling to take in the sight of them in their scores. "But…how did this…?"

"Over half of my dragons were infected after the fog blew over," Drago growled, his voice rough and grating. "The very few that remain useful have been taken below-deck. The infected have been placed here, in this squalor." He turned hard, cold eyes on me, reading my expression. "We want the same thing, do we not?"

I pulled my eyes away from them to meet his. "I want to _help_ them," I said. Not "cure" them so that they could go back to being slaves.

He grinned and leaned in close, consuming all of my vision, his voice still eerily quiet. "Then tell me what you know, dragon-boy. Time is running out. Soon they will all be like this."

My eyes settled on the song dragons. The armada had been flipped inside-out; the healthy below and unhealthy on top rather than the other way around. Men were struggling to do jobs they usually made dragons do, and I noticed a strange lack of movement in the canals between ships.

My mind whirled through a thousand possibilities, a thousand wrong things to do. What _could_ I do? I didn't even know _how_ to do what I so desperately wanted...or, at least, I wasn't _completely_ sure.

What I did know was that Drago hadn't killed Toothless, not even after he'd been bitten. He hadn't killed _me_ ,for that matter. He needed us, much more than he was letting on, and wasn't taking any chances with me clamming up and no longer being useful.

It wasn't a satisfying thought. Not with what I'd done to make him—and Toothless—feel that way.

I wrinkled my nose, trying to shake the thoughts off. _Focus!_ I told myself. _Keep it together!_

"It's not…illness," I rasped. "They're not physically sick, but ill at mind."

"The Alpha can take control of any dragon," Drago retorted helpfully. "His should be more than enough for a dragon that lackswill."

 _A dragon that lacks will._ I'd never thought of them as that. I'd always seen than as pockets of emptiness, things that once were, shells of the past.

My mind lingered on my empty magic. I forced myself out of it.

"Maybe…whatever is doing this is stronger than the Alpha," I said, looking far off to the center of the armada where the young King lied in wait.

Drago snorted. "Stronger than the Alpha?" He focused on me with such an intensity that I took a small step backwards. The shadow-man paused, expressionless, and said in an even, calm tone, "The only creature more powerful than the Alpha would be another dragon just like him."

Staring into his eyes, a stone dropped in my stomach.

There was nothing calm about him. A cold fire glinted in those eyes, giving the illusion of life in their hungry, chilling flames. His coolness was just that: a thin sheet of ice over a vast, freezing ocean, ready to crack at the slightest misstep and drag its victims off in a powerful undertow.

He knew about the King's nest. He was testing me—no, he was _toying_ with me, flaunting his dominance over me and having as much fun with it as he could.

"Uh…right," I stammered, and immediately kicked myself for such a wonderfulresponse.

Drago squared up over me, flaring his horrifying Shadow-Blender cloak to make himself bigger. Shadows writhed at the corners of my vision. "Tell me what those dragons told you." His voice was soft, _unbearably_ soft. "That is an order, _dragon-boy._ "

I thought of Toothless, trapped in the cold cavern of a ship somewhere, helpless and alone...Drago's bullhook just barely touching his neck, the tip a twitch from being buried into his scales.

"You're right," I sighed. Trying to keep my voice firm and sturdy, I met Drago's dark stare and said, "I already told you what I know. He was trying to stop it. He told me there was a source, and he asked me to help him."

"So you do know how to cure them?" Drago said, his voice dropping dangerously low. He took one step closer, glanced meaningfully back the way we came—to _Toothless_ —and my stomach plunged to my feet.

"No!" I hissed with bared teeth, swept up in a wave of frustration at my own helplessness. "I've tried and _tried_ to break dragons out of it—you saw it yourself! None of us know how to fix it! But…"

"But?" Drago mused with fake patience.

I weighed my options. Should I risk a misdirection, even though everyone knew how terrible I was at lying? Should I just do what he wanted? What if I failed?

The fresh memory of the Color-Shifter almost breaking free, only to slip back under at Drago's interruption, leapt to the forefront of my mind.

With a sigh, I said, "I think…there might be one dragon that I can help."

 **o.O.o**

"Well, that was quick!" Eret gave a smile that seemed a little too easy, tugging the mindless Color-Shifter behind him with a thin, flimsy rope. "Did he figure it out already?"

Not a moment later, Drago grabbed me by my scruff, lifted me off my feet, and literally threw me at the Color-Shifter. I stumbled, gasping and heart hammering, and only kept my balance by some miracle.

"Go ahead, dragon-boy," Drago sneered, his eyes settled towards the center of the armada. "You will not fail again."

My chest tightened. I turned around so that he wouldn't get the satisfaction of seeing how deep his threats still struck me, even as I knew that…

…but did I _really_ know that he neededToothless? That he wouldn't decide my brother was no longer important and make away with him, just as he had with one of Eret's crewmen?

I didn't want to find out—and I wouldn't give him the opportunity, not like I had yesterday out of sheer recklessness and stupidity. I would be his obedient little pet if that meant that Toothless was safe from him and the young King. No matter how much it hurt. I could take it.

I crept closer just as Eret stepped away, his eyes pinpoint-focused with interest. " _Color-Shifter?_ " I murmured. " _Color-Shifter, it's me._ "

For the second time, I took his chin in my paws and pressed my forehead to his. The song danced through me, sending my thoughts buzzing and crackling, making the world around me distort and less solid.

I closed my eyes and focused, trying to think of every slight break I'd heard in the song—even the ones I had brushed off as nothing. I had to find the common denominator. I knew for a fact that it wasn't just me talking. What had I done? What had I _said_ to give them pause?

The song twirled through my thoughts.

I sucked in a deep breath. Then I turned all my attention onto it, embracing it as it meandered through my heart and mind.

 _I'm not avoiding you anymore_ , I told it.

There was no answer, only the cackling of a dead shadow that lingered there always.

 _Why?_ I shouted into its mists. _What do you want?_

The insect-song-feeling intensified. The freezing armada and rocking ships and screeching gulls crept away inch by inch.

The first time had been with the elder. Then the group of dragons on the ship. Then the Color-Shifter. Three times, three pauses, three significant _things_ that I had glossed over without realizing it. Just as Eret had done, the answer had been slipped away close to me, hidden in plain sight. I just had to find that pocket, reach into it, grasp that key in my hands, my claws…

My whole body was shaking from it. My ears were even more muffled than normal, my eyes blind. I was staring with wide eyes and seeing nothing. A small, dim part of me recognized that I needed to be careful, that I wasn't going to help anyone by _forcing_ myself into the song.

 _What did I do…_ I thought to myself. _What did I say…_

I'd been talking for the sake of it, to protect myself from the song like I always did. Mourning the lost, despairing my helplessness, worrying over the state of the victims I was trying to heal, doubting the ever-humming King and his "solution" of soulfire—

The fog lurched, suddenly alive. It lunged at the thought with all its strength. Clarity returned to my mind for a precious second.

I snapped away from the Color-Shifter, panting and quaking. The song was still there, curling around in my mind, but now it was just as empty as the fog it resembled. It was almost as if I had _imagined_ it. Had it really just done that? Or had I been drifting too far into it and dreaming?

"That's it?" Eret commented. "All it takes is a little hug?"

Hugging him _wouldn't_ cure him. But I had an idea what could—what might draw that song out of him, what would catch its interest—if it had any—and give him room to squirm free.

" _Color-Shifter,_ " I said, holding him close one more time. " _Let me teach you soulfire._ "

The Color-Shifter hushed. In my periphery, I saw Drago shove Eret aside to peer closer.

" _Fight, Color-Shifter!_ " I told him. " _Fight with me! Fight, and I can teach you soulfire!_ "

He was trembling now.

" _Hurry, Color-Shifter!_ " I urged him. " _We need to go to your King! We can teach him soulfire! We can save your nestmates here!_ "

The Color-Shifter blinked. He sang—then stopped—then started up again—then halted. Half of his body disappeared, and the half remained uncamouflaged.

" _Sav…ior_ ," he murmured.

" _Yes! Yes!_ " I exclaimed, squeezing him tight against my chest. " _I'm here! Savior here! And I can teach you soulfire!_ "

" _Sca…red,_ " the Color-Shifter whimpered. He resumed his half-song, his fading in and out of it in rapid pitches and falls.

" _Fight!_ " I whispered, my heart beating wildly in my chest in anxious excitement.

The Color-Shifter hunched over, half-gone, half-singing. His body seemed to split down the middle, one part there and the other camouflaging with our surroundings, leaving an emptiness in its wake. It was gruesome to look at, but it meant _something._ It meant he was there, even if only a little bit, and he was _struggling_ to break free—even if his version of "breaking free" was "immediately hide".

With trembling fingers, I reached up and unwrapped the metal bindings I had put over him. He tilted his head into my palm as I tugged it off and let it slip to the ground.

The Color-Shifter's wavering song was just as quiet as before. It flickered at my mind's edge, but it was weak, barely-perceptible, and too inconsistent to have any real effect.

I set my sights on it again, but it had returned to its omnipotent hollowness, there and not, intentional and accidental, ever-present yet impossible to pin underfoot. It was nothing like the shadow that had plagued me, that had twisted through my thoughts with purpose. It was just…there.

Even so, I could almost feel it…a yearning…a desolate remorse…a consuming fear...a shell…

"No!"

Sharp claws snatched me away and flung me backwards. I flailed my arms with a surprised yelp and nearly smacked Drago in the face as he pulled me away from the Color-Shifter.

" _What_ —what—?" I gasped, clutching at my chest.

"Don't get infected yourself," Drago grunted. His eyes were aflame with mad victory, eager to pounce for the kill. "Now, come!" To Eret, he ordered, "Put it below."

"Wait," I gasped, my head still spinning. "He's not cured all the way, he's still—"

Drago yanked on my rope, squeezing the breath from my lungs. "But now it can't infect other dragons," he said. A cruel, crooked grin split across his face. "Maybe you've earned your keep after all."

I swayed even as he shoved me forward, forcing me away. My eyes trailed back to the Color-Shifter, half of him stark white and half of him melting into the shadows. His visible eye was just as blank and sightless as any singing dragon.

Yet I could almost feel that invisible stare on me, watching and waiting, calling out to me between each burst of the song.

 **o.O.o**

There was no time for rest.

I'd barely collected my thoughts together before I was given the incredibly easy and simple task of "curing" literally all of the singing dragons in the armada.

My stomach was gnawing away at my insides. White-hot spots sparked across my eyes more and more. The constant shroud of Drago made my insides writhe with anxiety and dread and anger all at once, and the intensity of the song as we drew nearer made it difficult to focus.

I didn't know how long I could physically keep this up. There was no way Drago _didn't_ know how worn out I was, and it filled me with nervousness to know that he was making sure I stayed that way, making sure I couldn't fight back.

Thinking of Toothless was my only consolation, using his memories like a shield just like he would cloak his wings overhead to protect me.

It might have taken two minute or two hours to make it to the singing dragons—time was lost in this place of ice and shadow, and the physical toll on my body wasn't doing me any favors.

"Go," Drago growled, shoving me towards one of the arenas stuffed with dragons.

I swallowed and closed my eyes, reminding myself: _I can do this. I_ want _to do this._

" _Hello!_ " I shouted to the dragons. " _I can help you! I can teach you soulfire!_ "

There it was—that break in the song.

But that was all that happened.

I cried out to the arena of dragons, even forcing myself to press up to the cage and reach my hand in. The song was too much—I couldn't stand there for long. With every use of that word and promise, what progress I made was gone in the next breath. Any dragon that got close to being helped was immediately dragged under by another sitting further away.

Drago noticed.

"What is wrong with you?" He said, marching up to me with a heavy frown. "Will you betray your fellow dragons? Your precious friend?"

Every inch of my body screamed to tear away from him. The shadow writhed at my memory's edge as he stretched up and up and up over me. I planted my feet and met his eyes, even if I did lower my head a little bit. My heart hammered in my chest and my breath was thin, but I still didn't look away.

"There's too many," I said. "I think…one at a time would be better."

"That takes too long," Drago grunted. "We don't have time for that."

I opened my mouth and shut it. "…why?"

Eret had been shadowing us for some time now, and finally decided to speak. "Wait, should we be stopping preparations?"

Drago glowered at me and the very-not-cured singing dragons.

He lunged.

Claws grasped at my torso before I could even blink. I stumbled away with a yelp, only for his hold to clamp down.

Anger fell away to disgruntled confusion. Drago let go, staring at my wingsuit.

He ripped my pocket open, reached in, and pulled it out. The key nearly glowed in the weak sunlight, like it was just _screaming_ to be noticed. Behind him, Eret's skin turned a deathly white.

A beat of silence passed, save for the gentle lapping of the ocean waves against the ships.

Drago grinned.

I took a small step back, finding it harder and harder to breathe. I was trapped, I was trapped and he knew and Toothless was completely vulnerable and I was tied up and now—!

"Clever," he chuckled. "So you managed to pickpocket someone." He whipped towards a still-shocked Eret and snapped, "Go get me a dragon!"

Eret did what he was told and then some, scrambling over to an arena and flinging the huge door open in record time. Without rope, he was stuck picking around looking for a dragon he could actually reach—although that didn't stop him from trying to drag some out by their legs. Eventually, he gave a satisfied grunt, stooped down, and twisted around with his victim.

My hammering heart stopped.

Although time's passing had left her bigger and bulkier than I remembered, I still recognized her on sight. I still knew that voice, as indistinguishable from the others as it was.

Nausea swept through me from the horror and shock of it, and from fear for her as well.

The lost fledgling.

"W-well, h-here ya go!" Eret grunted with fake grandeur, setting her down in front of us.

She was still so small, small enough to be carried around by bigger dragons but old enough to start learning to hunt. The playful energy that should have been nearly exploding from her had been erased, leaving her as nothing more than a little statue of a Hum-Wing that just so happened to make noise.

"Do you think you're free of harm, dragon-boy?" Drago said to me, suddenly eerie-calm. "Do you think I've spared the life of your Night Fury friend because of your little threat?"

I couldn't rip my eyes off of the motionless fledgling huddled at Eret's feet. "No," I whispered, as pointless as the lie was.

She'd been here. This whole time, we'd thought she was dead. We'd stopped looking for her. She must have been so scared, waiting and praying for searching flares that never came. Now she was here, under this monstrous shadow, alone and vulnerable and all because of me.

What kind of King was I?

"Most dragons are tamed when they're threatened themselves," Drago mused. "You're a little more difficult, but I see it now."

He stepped close to the fledgling, casting her in darkness, his dead Shadow-Blender skin fluttering over her like the cloak of death waiting to descend.

He met my eyes and seemed to relish in the panic and horror he saw there. "You are wounded more by what is done to others, those you care about. You would rather take the blow than them. So I will never lay a finger on you, dragon-boy…"

His bullhook rose higher and higher. His voice dropped to a whisper, the soft hiss of a snake about to snap.

"But you will watch—watch as others bear the pain of your mistakes."

"NO!" I cried, snapping myself out of my stupor.

The bullhook plunged down. The fledgling screamed. Drago let out a surprised grunt.

I clung to his arm as tight as I could, throwing all of my weight into it so that his strike glanced off to the side instead of directly into the fledgling's neck. The bullhook had still struck her, slicing deep into her leg, and even under the spell of the song did our poor nestmate whimper in pain.

Drago growled with anger, lifting me clear off my feet and flinging me aside. I plopped to the ground, rolled to my feet, and limped back towards him with my head lowered and my teeth bared.

" _Leave her alone_ ," I snarled, hunching over and meeting his dead eyes. She was bleeding, she was bleeding and hurt and crying, but I was her King and she needed me and I had to protect her. I had to, even if I was too late, even if—

With a thunderous look, Drago snapped his bullhook back—to the agony of the poor fledgling—and raised it high over his head.

The shadows crashed into me from deep within and from this monster before me. They spiraled through all of reality, consuming me with doubt and self-hatred and pain. I was done for—I was going to get us all killed—this was all my fault, and I would die here, leaving Toothless alone and Dad on Berk and the fledgling and the elder Hum-Wing and the Color-Shifter and the young and old Kings to their fates—

" _SUBMIT!_ " Drago roared, swinging his weapon and seeming to expand thrice his size. " _SUBMIT! SUBMIT!_ "

The shadows exploded across my vision with darkness. I couldn't breathe. I couldn't see. My heart burned, my limbs locked up. My entire body was frozen, filled with ice that stabbed at me every time I moved.

I clenched my eyes shut, gritting my teeth.

" _NO!_ " I shrieked, clutching at my heart and crouching over the fledgling. Drago was a mountain above me, his eyes crackling with cold fire, and still I cried out in reckless, _stupid_ defiance, "I won't!"

I couldn't. I couldn't do it anymore. I couldn't do this to Toothless again. I couldn't do this to our nestmates, to this fledgling who needed me.

I couldn't do this to _me_.

The bullhook whipped towards my head. I ducked out of the way just as it almost smashed across my temple—a blow that would have crippled me on the spot.

I backed off to the side, still crouched low, fingers turned to claws even as I tugged uselessly at the ropes holding them in front of me. Drago followed me, his attention completely off of the fledgling.

"So you do have some fight in you," he spat.

I wrinkled my nose at him and continued stalking in a slow circle, trying to keep him following me. The shadows writhed in the corners of my eyes, threatening to flood over me at any moment.

"What's your plan, then?" Drago asked. "Are you going to growl at me, little dragon-boy? Are you going to hiss and claw and bite?" He approached me with a grim smile. "Give in. A dragon cannot be anything other than mine here."

Something...shifted. It was like the flick of a switch, a sudden and sharp snap. Time crawled to a stop around me.

My body screamed with pain. The shadows fought to distort the world around me. I ignored it all, leered straight into those dead eyes, and narrowed my own.

Words sprung to my lips, sudden and unexpected, yet familiar and almost welcome—like they had always been there, lying dormant, waiting patiently for me to find them.

"Then it's a good thing I'm not _only_ a dragon," I rasped.

Drago's expression hardened, contorting with revulsion.

I threw myself at the fledgling, grabbing her and pulling her up in my arms from strength of adrenaline alone.

" _SOULFIRE!_ " I roared. " _I'LL TEACH YOU SOULFIRE!_ "

The humming paused, both from her and the adults. The fledgling's eyes were lost and pained, just _here_ enough for her to creep her eyes up towards mine.

" _FLY!_ " I commanded her, twisting and throwing her into the air.

She almost dropped completely, stuttering in the air as blood dripped to the ice and wood below. Every couple seconds, she puffed out a halfhearted hum. But she never stopped, wandering up towards the tips of the ice spires surrounding the armada.

She was old enough now—old enough that she just might be able to make it out over that cold ocean. Still, guilt fueled the shadows around me; I knew that I'd probably just sent her from one deathtrap to another.

At least she had a small chance now. At least she wasn't trapped here, used as a punishment for _my_ mistakes.

I didn't have a chance to see how far she made it.

Drago's second strike struck true, cracking across my injured shoulder with such a force that my legs gave out and I collapsed with a scream.

The agony in my heart reignited. I blinked rapidly against the shadows, lightheaded and breathless.

I had done the right thing—and also the worst.

The shadows writhed around me, hissing and cackling as I came to realize the consequences of my actions. They barreled into me, ripping and tearing at the emptiness within.

Drago growled something, but I didn't hear it. His foot came down on my midsection. My vision filled with darkness and luminescent spots. I twisted away, but it was no use. He kicked at me again, throwing his enormous weight into it, so heavy that my scream came out high-pitched and breathless as all the air in my lungs was squeezed out of me.

It _hurt._ It hurt so much. The Kill Ring flashed before me. My father, striking me as I curled away, huddled in the shadows. His sword glancing across my hide in the storage shed. Drago lifted his bullhook. Brilliant sunlight clashed with choking black, both here and in my memories.

 _No…no…!_

Another blow, but this time I didn't know from who, are where, or if it even _existed—_

 _It's not real!_

But Drago _was_ real, and he was _furious._

"You belong to me!" He howled, consumed in the darkness of his armada and Shadow-Blender skin. "You are a dragon, a monster! I am your Alpha, the Alpha of all the dragons!"

Dad was screaming too, begging me to be his son again as I shrunk away from him with my wings, tail, and jaw bound.

I heaved and rattled, covered in a cold sweat, and clenched my eyes shut. "Not real," I whispered, my voice a breath above nothing. " _It is fine…_ "

Another blow, white-hot against the icy chill.

Then nothing.

Each breath was sharp with pain and fear. I curled up on myself, wanting nothing more than to cover myself with my wings and tail just as Toothless would.

 _It is fine_ , I imagined him soothing me, going out of his way to make me laugh or annoy me by licking my fur. _It is fine…_

The shadows seemed to laugh at the very idea, like it was amusing that I thought that I could fight back. Despair thrashed into me.

Toothless' frightened sobs leapt from my memories. Then those just now, of the fledgling's weary escape. Of Dad _now_ , not of that horrible argument we'd been left off on, but those countless small moments where we'd _almost_ been a family again.

I cracked my eyes open, wheezing, and attempted a weak glare at the shadow-man looming above. "You're...right," I gasped. "I'd rather…be hurt…than others…" I struggled to lift myself up, but my arms and legs seemed to be made of sapling twigs, snapping at the slightest pressure. "But," I gasped, eyelids fluttering. "But I won't…stand by…I don't want _anyone_ …to hurt like this…the song…"

Drago's lip curled, the slightest bit of frustration breaking his stern glare. "Well, then you've done an excellent job of failing those around you," he hissed.

A humorless chuckle escaped me, sending lightning snapping through my ribs. "I know…but I've learned that…giving up on myself…"

I struggled to get up again. I made it halfway—I blinked—I was on the ground again.

"That hurts those…close to me…even more," I breathed.

Drago rolled me over with his foot so that I was lying on my back, staring up at him as his Shadow-Blender pelt swooped over me.

"So you've decided to fight back?" He growled. A crooked, malevolent grin split up his face. "Then perhaps I have been too soft with you."

I blinked, dazed from the pain and the distant song. _Wait…what?_

"We must stop preparations," Drago snapped to Eret, who was still hovering aside, unwilling to leave but too intimidated to interrupt. "Go and spread the word. We're leaving at once. We're only losing more dragons at this rate."

"Y-yes sir!" Eret stammered with fake cheer.

"And one more thing," Drago stopped him. He turned his eyes to me, and that cruel grin returned. "I must say, it's been a fun challenge trying to break you, _dragon-boy._ It's a shame you wouldn't cooperate with me."

Alarm started to spread through my foggy thoughts.

"Bring me the Night Fury."

 **o.O.o**

Toothless

The ground below shifted abruptly, shifting in a great heave like an enormous wave had just rolled directly beneath.

" _Hm_ …no…no… _hm_ …"

My ear twitched. My limbs seemed to be crushed under the strength of the gods. " _Hiccup_ …"

Cold. It was so cold.

I groaned, forcing my paws beneath me and blinking blearily into the emptiness around me.

Out of all the times I'd come to after being knocked unconscious, this was certainly one of the worst. My stomach roiled with nausea, my wings and tail seemed to be pinned at each joint, and worst of all…

" _Hiccup?_ " I croaked, lifting my ears as my call echoed.

No response. I sniffed the air. My heart lurched at finding his scent stale.

What had happened? Where was he? My mind flew through the past—waiting in this endless dark, humans swarming in, that monster using a young King, the fog, the sudden sting of those damned wood-claws.

"No…no… _hm_ …"

I jerked upright, ears raised.

"Color-Shifter?" I asked.

Every other breath, he seemed to let out the slightest hum, the song a brief burst between prolonged pauses. It was like a river, the surface just barely rippling with the powerful undertow within.

He was…singing? Almost?

" _Hm_ …yes…"

"Color-Shifter, what's wrong?" I tried to get to my feet and was rewarded with another bout of grogginess and nausea. "Why are you…how are you…what's wrong with you?"

He snorted. "No…no… _hm_ …I'm…I'm…."

"Get ahold of yourself!" I snapped.

" _Hm_ …sorry…Savior… _hm_ …"

If he was actually apologizing to me, then that meant that something was wrong. I let out a low growl.

"Talk to me," I said, fighting to keep my voice commanding and calm. "Stop singing. Just talk, alright?"

" _Hm_ …yes…Savior."

Another lurch below. The ground swayed like it was made of water, which I did not appreciate at all. I dug my claws into the metal below me, suddenly and firmly aware that we were indeed on top of the ocean and that it could flood in at any time.

"We need to find Hiccup," I hissed, tail swaying. "And we need to escape. This has gone long enough."

" _Hm_ ," the Color-Shifter hummed. "Savior…saved me… _hm_ …" He thrummed for a few more seconds and managed, "The banished…is here…"

Great, now it was making him stupid, too. "Care to explain?" I said with a roll of my eyes.

"The banished…soulfire… _hm_ …"

"Yes, that was exceptionally descriptive," I said. "Do you know when they took Hiccup?"

" _Hm_ …he must…soulfire…the banished…"

I frowned, biting back another sarcastic remark.

He was singing, but not. He clearly was struggling to get _anything_ even remotely logical out. Whatever the song was—it was doing this to him, keeping him in its claws, leaving him both here and absent.

"Color-Shifter," I said. "Focus. Focus on me. Focus on what I'm saying, alright? Just answer my questions, alright?"

"Yes…Savior… _hm_ …"

"Do you know when they took Hiccup?"

He sang just a little bit longer, and then almost gasped, "…no…"

"How long have you been like…this?"

" _Hm_ …after…the Savior… _hm_ …"

I pinned my ears. "The Savior? You mean Hiccup?"

"Yes…soulfire…"

Frustration swept upon me at how nonsensical all of this was. For all I knew, everything he was saying was just part of this odd stupor he was in, and Hiccup had been gone for hours or only a few minutes.

"What do you mean, soulfire?"

"Yes!" The Color-Shifter gasped. " _Hm_ …soulfire…the banished…"

He paused, seeming to wait for me, like he thought that his answer actually made sense.

I shifted around anxiously. "Wait, wait, were you saying that Hiccup… _helped_ you?"

" _Hm_ …yes…the Savior…soulfire…whole…"

"But what about Hiccup?!" I snapped. "The other Savior! Concentrate, Color-Shifter!"

He let out a soft whimper. "Sorry…sorry…I'm… _hm_ …the banished…soulfire…to be whole… _hm_ …"

I withheld my temper this time, shaking my head and baring my teeth in frustration. I couldn't blame him—no matter how easy it would be. He was still wrapped up in it, even if he could talk. Although that wasn't helping much, considering he was only spewing nonsense.

"Alright, so, soulfire," I said, shifting my strategy. "Tell me all about it _without_ singing. Can you do that? Just try, Color-Shifter, okay?"

"Yes…yes…" he took in a trembling breath. "Soulfire…the magic…of the gods…I understand now… _hm_ …no! No…"

"Keep talking," I said. "You're doing great. Just keep talking."

"Savior…I'm sorry…" he whispered. "It's empty…so empty…lost…nothingness…I'm frightened…I'm sorry…"

Another lurch, followed by rumbling. I growled as anxiety began to melt into fear.

Hiccup was nowhere to be found, the Color-Shifter was trapped within the song and talking about soulfire being _empty_ , and now our cages were moving around. I was completely useless like this—I couldn't even get the Color-Shifter to come to.

"Why are you sorry?" I tried, forcing the tremble out of my voice. "I mean, you have a _lot_ to be sorry for, but…"

The Color-Shifter let out a small laugh. " _Hm_ …true...the Savior…soulfire…need it…"

"For…?" I pressed.

"Whole," the Color-Shifter whimpered. His tone suddenly shifted, no longer lost and meaningless but well and truly frightened. " _Hm_ …no…oh, no!"

"What?!" I demanded, nearly leaping out of my scales. "Color-Shifter, at least _try_ to make sense!"

"No… _hm_ …no…" he gasped. "I know this…I know…"

I whipped my tail and managed to get to my feet. "You know what?" I asked, pressing up against the bars of my cage. Something was wrong—not that I needed to be told. I needed to get out of here. I needed to find Hiccup.

The Color-Shifter sang a few seconds, halted, and let out a horrified gasp.

The cages shifted more, alive like the ocean. Metallic groans came from seemingly all directions.

His voice filled with horror, suddenly himself if only for a brief moment. In between bursts of the song, the Color-Shifter managed to cry out:

"Home…we're heading for my home!"


	20. Chapter 19

**Hello, everyone!**

 **Before we start anything...400 REVIEWS! I want to give a HUGE thank you to everyone. It really means the world to me to have so many loyal readers. You all make Echoed Songs (and IHHS) what it is today, so thank you so much!**

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 **As always, reviews are greatly appreciated, from the most incomprehensible screams to...well, pretty much anything!**

 **Have a great day!**

* * *

 **Chapter 19**

Toothless

Light flew into the darkness on sharp wings.

I flinched away with a hiss as it stung at my eyes. Footsteps echoed, dull and hollow, as a human entered.

"No… _hm_ …no," the Color-Shifter said in a small whine, shuffling about with frantic little footsteps.

I refused to cower against the opposite end of my cage, crouching low right at its front with squinted eyes. The human swam into view in front of me.

"Now—" he began.

I lunged at him, roaring for all that I was worth. As expected, the cage rattled and held true. That didn't stop the human from stumbling backwards with a yelp, and the small victory was enough for me to sit back with a smirk.

The human 'Eret' collected himself and got to his feet, brushing himself off in an effort to look casual. "Y'know, I'm trying to _help_ you," he said indignantly. "Didn't your friend tell you that already? I thought you two loved to chat."

I threw my head and scoffed. This human was the one that had attacked Hiccup right before I'd been hit by the wood-claws. He'd even held his claw to Hiccup's throat, forcing me to hold still enough for his allies to pounce at our weakest.

The human's paws inched towards his midsection. I bared my teeth and snarled.

He hesitated, searching through my eyes. "Look—I don't know if you can understand me or not," he said. "But if you can, then we need to work together to get off of this damn armada."

"Oh, you've changed your mind about bringing us here? How noble!" I hissed, lowering my head.

"Savior…" the Color-Shifter whimpered. "My home… _hm_ …my home…"

'Eret' steeled himself and approached. "Now's our last chance," he said. "Everything's about to go to hell, and if I'm half the leader I should be, then I need to get what's left of my men out of here." With a tight frown, he added, "Not to mention that your friend isn't going to last much longer against Drago, not in the state he's in now. So _please_ , if you can understand me, you have to _work_ with me."

He rambled on some more, but his words fell deaf on my ears.

 _Not in the state he's in now._

Dread plunged my heart into ice colder than any cage in this frozen wasteland of floating-trees. My limbs locked in place. My confidence vanished.

Hiccup was hurt.

The human didn't notice as I stood there with wide, terrified eyes and shaking legs, doing everything I could to keep from panicking. He prattled on and on until, finally, he drew me out of it.

The cage gave a loud squeal.

"No…no… _hm_ …" The Color-Shifter mumbled, his claws weakly skidding across the metal as he was dragged out by his ropes.

"See?" 'Eret' said, apparently trying to prove a point. He let go of the ropes, freeing the Color-Shifter. "Now will you help me or not?"

I met his eyes, my ears pinned and my wings fluttering.

I knew nothing of this human. He had only ever been an enemy, an opportunistic scavenger that struck when his prey was already weakened. Multiple times now, he'd threatened myself or Hiccup in order to appease that monster.

The very same monster that had slaughtered one of his own, dousing him in their blood.

He smelled of fear-scent—but deep in his eyes, there was a tightly-controlled rage. There was the very fear I felt for Hiccup.

I nodded, too rushed to make it look neat and deliberate. 'Eret' balked nonetheless.

"Oh, so you—you do understand," he stammered. I nodded again, and he straightened up with an uneasy grin. "Excellent. That makes things a lot easier. Here."

He thrust some metal thing into the cage and pulled. Impossibly, the bars opened.

"Let's go!" I snapped, launching myself through it.

"Wait!" Eret commanded, rushing after me and grabbing my tail in his paws. I whipped towards him with a snarl, and he let go and held his paws up complacently. "Hold on now—you can't just go running out there, fire blazing! Otherwise I would've had someone else come down here and do this!"

"Home…" the Color-Shifter said. He was staring off into nothingness, half of his scales camouflaged into the shadows, standing idly besides the very human who had dragged us into this mess. He was in no state to escape—he'd be dragged down in moments. No matter how much I disliked him, I couldn't just leave him to die here. I knew _Hiccup_ wouldn't.

"Now, are you going to listen to my plan or not?" 'Eret' pushed.

I whipped my tail, raising my lip to show teeth, and sent a glare at 'Eret'. Even though it burned me to do so, I nodded for him to go on.

'Eret' grinned mischievously. "Then allow me to explain."

 **o.O.o**

'Eret' certainly admired his own strategy well enough for the three of us. Hiccup could have come up with something better in half the time, to be quite honest.

The human tugged a little tight on my ropes. I let out a soft warning hiss, looking pointedly at the paw wrapped around the end of my bindings. 'Eret' noticed right away and grimaced. The Color-Shifter was far more compliant, stumbling along like a half-asleep hatchling that also had also been recently concussed.

As we walked along at a moderate pace, the human's flare scurried out in all kinds of directions, scrambling across the forest of floating-trees like their lives depended on it. As they did, the ground lurched almost constantly, almost sending me sprawling with each unexpected plunge downwards. The Color-Shifter was less graceful, periodically losing his footing and thumping to the wood. 'Eret' somehow seemed to be able to predict when each dip would happen, swaying with the floating-trees below.

Throughout it all, I "sang" so that it would be less questionable that 'Eret' was guiding _two_ dragons by himself. It was difficult to keep my own fear from breaking my façade, and not only because I was terrified of what sight I would see when we finally got to Hiccup.

The floating-trees were _moving_. They were racing along the ocean as if the gods had swept them up in a divine wind, moving far faster than any human-built contraption I had ever seen in my entire life. All of the waters I could see were fraying with foam, and searing-cold waves occasionally crested over the lower-lying areas of this impossible place. Seagulls sped about, struggling to keep up.

Further above still, the sun was shrouded by a lingering cloud-cover that stretched for miles.

'Eret' pulled too tight again. I allowed my "song" to transition effortlessly into a deep, rumbling growl.

The human flinched, then tried to make a big show of covering it up. "Dumb thing nearly stepped on my foot, is all!" He laughed to the few concerned onlookers that mingled about. Tightening his grip on the rope, he mumbled, "I have to make it believable—just bear with it for a little while!"

Still, he pulled much lighter on the ropes this time. I relented to his "orders", trying to withhold another growl. I had to focus and save my strength. Hiccup was hurt, or in danger, or worse. I would swallow my pride hundreds of times over to get to him, even if it meant that I was dragged around by _this_ idiot.

Yet this particular idiot had apparently had a change of heart, and, more importantly, a plan. We weren't allies, of course—but we had a common motive, and it was clear that he wasn't lying. 'Eret' was certainly slippery and difficult to read, but it was clear that he valued the safety of his flare and himself over everything else. We were useful to him, and he was useful to us. That was all that mattered if it allowed us to get out of this wretched place.

Trapped in such a dire nest and with so few options to look to, I was ready to leap at _any_ opportunity that offered itself up to me.

"No… _hm_ …" The Color-Shifter repeated over and over. "My home, Savior…no…I'm frightened…"

"It'll be alright," I whispered to him. "Just focus, alright? Try not to sing."

" _Hm_ …I'm sorry, Savior…the banished..."

I drooped. He was so lost, so vulnerable, so empty. It had been cruelly unfair of me to be so crass with him earlier, and he didn't even realize it. He wasn't a dragon like this—he was just an object, something that could be moved around and used. That Hiccup had only been able to halfway free him, so that he was partially aware of the state he was in…

The song was a truly terrible thing.

We continued our journey undisturbed, save for the occasional human scrambling past. The song drifted from all sorts of directions, a hollow and forlorn echo that reverberated through my ears. Even though 'Eret' took great care to weave away from any nearby song dragons, I found myself shaking my head constantly, like it was a physical thing to be thrown off.

Hours seemed to pass until we came to a brief stop. My heart hammered in my chest, sending painful waves of nervous energy rushing through me. I took a breath to brace myself.

"Remember the plan, alright?" 'Eret' murmured to me. I gave a subtle nod that was perhaps _too_ subtle, because his eyes lingered worriedly on mine. Then—

"Alrighty then!" 'Eret' boomed as he turned a corner. "One Night Fury, and also his other friend to boot!"

The monster-human seemed to tower above, his disgusting Shadow-Blender pelt making him so much larger. He leered at the Color-Shifter. "I didn't ask for that one."

"I figured you might want it here, just in case!" 'Eret' eased, gesturing broadly at the Color-Shifter. "You never know when you'll need backup plan!"

All of this went ignored by the monster. We locked our eyes.

Despite it all, fear plunged deep into my heart, knocking the ground out from under my confidence just as the wood below swayed and shifted.

" _Hm…hm…_ " I continued.

The human stepped closer. My eyes caught sight of something small behind him—and my breath left me.

Lying beaten and wounded, limp paws clutching his chest, and eyelids fluttering, Hiccup lifted his eyes to mine. " _Toothless_ …" he slurred, his voice hoarse. " _I…save fledgling…_ "

 _Something_ burst to life, a spark, a hope, carrying with it relief and confusion—and then it was gone just as fast as it had come. I staggered, caught up in confusion and horror and rage and relief.

He was hurt, but he was _alive_ , and for some reason my stupid brother was _smiling_ at me—!

"Bring it here," the monster demanded, thrusting me back into the real world.

In my peripheral vision, I caught 'Eret' glancing down at me. I never let my eyes leave Hiccup, scoring over every inch of his body in search of serious wounds. He wasn't bleeding, thank the Dragoness of the Moon—but that meant nothing if it was all internal.

I wanted nothing more than to call out to him, but I had to act docile—I had to be just as the Color-Shifter was. I sang deep in my throat, hoping that that monster's ears weren't so keen that he could make out the difference between the real song and the fake one.

'Eret' tugged at the ropes and whistled, a sharp cry that tore through the air likes talons. I flinched, almost forgetting myself, and then crept along after him. The shadow-human narrowed his eyes.

"I figured out that makes it come faster!" 'Eret' nervously told his now-suspicious King. "So, you're not _really_ going to get rid of this, are you? I mean, it's a _Night Fury!_ "

A second, fainter whistle came from far off, so quiet I almost ignored it.

"It's a _dragon_ ," the monster corrected, his Shadow-Blender pelt drifting after him like a wayward spirit. He looked down upon me, his deadened eyes as cold as the ice surrounding us.

Something about the way he moved made me fight to keep from backing away, to keep my voice steady. Did he not seem just a little too disturbed? Was that not a flicker of true madness I saw in his eyes?

" _Toothless—run!_ " Hiccup wheezed, struggling to lift himself up on his front paws. " _He wants to kill you!_ "

Another faint whistle, caught on the wind like a fragile, stray leaf.

The monster beckoned for us to draw nearer. 'Eret' hesitated, but still brought us in closer. The Color-Shifter whimpered and sang.

The monster made sure to stay just out of my striking-range; there would be no surprise attacks now, not when he'd already fallen for my previous trick.

" _Hm…hm…hm_ ," I sang, picking up my volume so that it was more "obvious".

" _Run!_ " Hiccup commanded, fear and panic giving him strength to sit up. " _Don't worry about me! Run,_ now!"

I caught the scent of death and blood upon the shadow-human's pelt. My lip raised just a bit as I struggled to keep my composure.

The shadow-human studied me for a long time. I stared straight forward, singing for all I was worth and allowing my eyes to unfocus.

" _Stop pretending!_ " Hiccup rasped. He tried to get up, and his legs gave out underneath him. " _Run!_ "

The claw-stick raised high above. My fake song wavered.

The plan had failed. It wasn't going to work. We would have to fight him, injured and starving and bound within ropes—

I jolted out of the way just as the claw-stick plunged down. It landed directly where my neck had been moments ago.

"This again?" The monster grunted, pulling his Shadow-Blender cloak over himself for protection. He bared his teeth in a gruesome smirk, showing just how obvious my attempted ruse was. "Do you really think you can fool me twice?"

All pretenses fell, and a rush of rage overcame me at having been twisted around to his whims _again_. I crouched low and opened my jaw wide, showing teeth and gas at the ready. "Rot in the Prebirth!" I screamed, flaring my wings and whipping my tail.

My fire blazed directly into his damned Shadow-Blender cloak. He hid behind it and only took one step backwards at the heavy impact. Then he dropped it, lifting an unimpressed eyebrow at me.

" _RUN!_ " Hiccup shrieked. He'd managed to unsteadily raise to his feet. He took a shaking step closer, heaving with the effort, and nearly fell over.

The monster was between us—I'd have to rush right past him to make it to my brother, opening myself to his claws.

Very well, then.

I lunged, roaring the fiercest battle cry I could.

At the very same moment, a human scream joined me, followed quickly by a second and third.

There was an explosion of color in the grim skies.

Dragons burst into flight from every direction, so flurried that only a few of them took the time to bring fire upon the floating-trees below. All of them cried out in joy and panic alike, flying in elaborate, desperate zig-zags to avoid objects already being thrown towards them from below.

"What?!" The shadow-man snarled, his dead eyes lighting with cold fire at the sight. "Bring them down!"

I skirted around him in his momentary distraction, racing towards Hiccup as fast as I could. All but barreling into him, I gasped, " _Hiccup!_ "

" _Thank you_ ," he whispered, holding onto me for a brief moment before easing himself up onto my back.

Humans everywhere were shouting now, their voices mingling with dragons. More and more were finding their way into the skies. With Hiccup safely on my back, I allowed a smug look to slide across my face.

'Eret' had instructed his flare to go to the cages housing the unaffected dragons and to release them upon his signal. Afterwards, they were to go to the song dragons' cages and open them, hopefully to get them to escape as well.

There were no song dragons in the skies—but the unaffected were as good enough distraction as we were going to get. With so many targets to hit, with such an unexpected mass-exodus, it truly was now or never.

"Color-Shifter, to us!" I commanded.

He snapped his eyes towards me, suddenly alert. The monster did the same.

His cool demeanor broke, revealing the insanity within. "NO!" He roared, rushing us with surprising agility, his face contorted in a grotesque snarl.

I flung another fireball at him. It was just as useless as before, but it forced him to stop his advance and pull that damned pelt over himself. It was enough time—I opened my wings, crouched, and stormed into the sky.

" _Shoot them down!_ " The monster howled, his voice booming over the cacophony of humans and screeching dragons.

I flapped my wings as hard as I could, struggling to angle myself upwards. Hiccup shifted his weight to help, but it was no use—we had to raise ourselves up at a flat angle, leaving us wide open to attacks from below. A raised platform came upon us, and I snatched onto it, flinging myself up it as fast as I could. At its peak, I twisted down, panting.

"Color-Shifter!" I called. " _Now_ , Color-Shifter!"

The Color-Shifter was still standing there, watching us with his blank eye. The monster bared his teeth at us, looking between us and the Color-Shifter, and whipped towards 'Eret'.

" _You!_ " He snarled. He lurched towards him. "And to think I'd thought you'd learned your lesson!"

"Now—Drago!" 'Eret' said complacently, backing up and running into the Color-Shifter. "Let's not be hasty! How could I possibly—"

The monster charged.

" _Color-Shifter!_ " Hiccup and I cried.

'Eret' leapt out of the way of the claw-stick—and right into the Color-Shifter. This was enough to recover him from his stupor; with a shocked whinny, the Color-Shifter opened his wings and charged towards us…

…with 'Eret' still clinging to him.

"Wait, wait, _no!_ " The human cried, clutching to the Color-Shifter's spines and dangling off of his side. "This was _not_ the plan!"

The two blazed past us, the Color-Shifter chanting, "Home! Home! Home!"

I wasted no more time. With a spring, I joined the mass of dragons fleeing for their lives, my wings blurring with my effort. The air was harsh and unsteady. I rocked from side to side in violent swings and dips. Hiccup threw his small weight this way and that, struggling to keep up.

The air was filling with nets and wood-claws. We were rising at such a low angle, we wouldn't reach a safe height until we were far from the floating-trees.

" _Right!_ " Hiccup gasped, leaning hard. I lunged to the side, and a net filled the space we had just been in. " _Down!_ " We let ourselves fall a brief moment, missing another net by inches. " _Left! Left!_ "

I swerved and lifted my head to the mass of fleeing dragons above. "Help!" I cried. "We can't fly higher!"

They were too frantic, their freedom too enticing. Many dragons looked down, guilt shining in their eyes, and continued on their path. The Color-Shifter was flying unsteadily between us and the others, knocked off-balance by the human hanging off his side and his wingbeats uneven.

" _GET! THEM!_ " The monster howled below, his voice still painfully loud despite the great distance between us.

I glanced behind just in time to see three nets aimed right towards us: two to the side, and one below.

"Color-Shifter! Someone!" I shrieked, straining up as hard as I could manage. It was no use—the nets were coming, they were going to get us, they were going to drag us back down to this place of shadow and ice!

The net closed around us. My wings were slammed shut by the force. Hiccup and I let out twin cries of horror.

We began to fall.

 _Not again! Not again! Not again!_

Hopelessness overcame me, as dark and choking as the blanket of fog blotting out the sun above. We had barely survived our short stay—any longer, and surely one of us would perish. Now we had almost escaped, and there would be no fake mercy nor toying with us. There would only be revenge, pain, and death. In the monster's rage was the promise that he would make our final moments those of unmatched suffering.

Hiccup and I _wailed_ , sick with panic and despair.

A shadow passed overhead.

Our descent suddenly and abruptly stopped. The shadow-man roared with outrage below.

"See? I _told_ you I could help!"

"Go, Stormfly, go!" Astrid cried out somewhere above. By some miracle, the yearling actually _listened_ , banking upwards as hard as she could.

Another fling of a net—a burst of fire below—Meatlug zipped back, 'Fishlegs' crying out in fear atop her back.

" _What?_ " Hiccup breathed. "Astrid?!"

Astrid leaned over Stormfly's shoulder, her eyes wide as they flickered over both of us in search of injuries. "Oh, thank Thor!" She said. "Gods, Hiccup, are you—are you two okay?"

"We've been…better…" Hiccup said slowly, still just as befuddled as I was.

Hookfang whirled past us, and Stormfly picked up the pace, lifting us higher and higher.

"What's up, little cousin?" Snotlout shouted cheerily. "Great day for another rescue mission, am I right? Although I wish it weren't so cloudy, it's making it freezing up here."

"Are you alright, our Kings?" Barf-and-Belch's left asked from below, the two look-alike humans perched on _his_ necks as well. "Are you injured?"

It had been too long of a day for this.

"What is _happening?_ " I gasped, struggling to keep up.

Hiccup shifted around on my back, pawing at the net. "Astrid—guys—what are you—how did—where's—?"

"Your dad says you have to go home!" 'Tuffnut' shouted.

"I bet you're totally grounded for this!" 'Ruffnut' cackled.

A stray wind knocked the net around. Stormfly struggled to hold onto us as we were flung to and fro.

"I would like to fly now!" I shouted, writhing around.

Meatlug zipped up towards us and gave the two of us a short bow. "My deepest apologies! Please hold still, my Kings, and I'll have you liberated shortly." She hovered as close as she could, lifted her claws, and began tearing away at it.

The already-bumpy ride became even bumpier. Everything became a chaotic blur. Hiccup clamped his paws down as hard as he could.

"Gah! Hurry up!" Stormfly squawked, struggling to hold onto the net as it was pulled in all sorts of directions.

The tension in the ropes loosened. Space opened up enough for me to wriggle around, opening my wings and pushing my paws out.

A hole suddenly opened up beneath us. Hiccup and I dropped towards the ocean.

A second of freefall—and then I snapped my wings and tail out, buffeting the two of us. We swayed wildly from side to side for a heart-stopping moment. With Hiccup's help, I managed to keep my balance, swinging my tail and flapping shallowly. In a few seconds, we evened out into a well-controlled glide, keeping our altitude with the occasional beat of my wings. From sheer luck, we had righted ourselves in the direction that the Color-Shifter and his unwilling passenger had gone.

Engulfed in the freedom of the skies, both Hiccup and I looked down at the cage of shadows below.

The floating-trees were small, so small it was almost impossible to believe that they had nearly sealed our deaths. I could almost make out the shape of the monster below, roaring up at us as if he could drag us down by the force of his voice alone. His nest was still moving at an impossible speed, a frothing white wake left in its path.

It was charging in the very same direction as us. Still, now that we were flying, we were beginning to gradually outpace it. Soon it would disappear over the horizon, but not so from our thoughts.

"Oh…" Hiccup sighed. He slumped onto my shoulders, completely limp, and let out a long breath. "Oh, thank the gods…"

" _Yes_ ," I purred, pushing my head up against him. " _Us okay._ "

I was so exhausted, I felt like I would fall any second. Yet happiness and relief, uncertain and unfamiliar, began to fill me with warmth.

" _We're okay_ ," I repeated, like it was a prayer. " _Us okay…us okay…us okay…_ "

Stormfly choose that moment to level out at my side, brazenly positioning herself on my right to Meatlug's obvious annoyance. "We rescued you!" She crowed, puffing up with pride. "See, we're good to have around! Everything is better now!"

"Now we can go home!" Hookfang said with delight behind us. "I'm _so_ hungry!"

"Hiccup?" Astrid spoke up, having never let her eyes leave us. "Are you okay?"

"No," Hiccup moaned. He raised himself up a little higher. His voice was hoarse, "But…we're gonna get through it."

Astrid's eyes were wide, her mouth slightly parted. She took a moment, gave a weak smile, and nodded. "Well, you don't have to go at it alone. Sorry that we were late."

"No, I'd say you were right on time," Hiccup said with an uneasy laugh. He pointed out at the horizon. "But we're not done yet. We gotta get Eret."

The Color-Shifter was still somewhat close to us, flying in a wayward, meandering pattern. Every so often, he'd veer off to the side, suddenly seem to remember where he was headed, and lock himself back onto the correct path.

Comically-faint screams could be heard off in the distance. There was a pause as everyone seemed to appreciate them.

"Uh, who is that?" Astrid asked.

" _Maybe they're friends now?_ " I suggested wearily." _Yes? Good, good friends, yes?_ "

Hiccup pulled my ear. " _No!_ " He snorted. " _His nestmates will attack him. We need to get him, or—_ "

"Uh, did Hiccup get hit on the head or something?" Snotlout said. "Maybe I should take Hookie in for another visit, eh?"

"Why'd he just say my name?!" Hookfang yelped. "I hope he doesn't want to go back down there!"

"Aw, are you scared?" Stormfly teased.

"No! I'm brave!"

"I'm brave-er!

"No, I am!"

My head was starting to pound. Too much had happened too fast, and there was still so much ahead of us. I sent Hiccup an exhausted look, one Meatlug was very quick to join in on.

"One must… _acclimate_ …to such dry conversations," she heaved.

Astrid raised her voice, forcing herself back to our attention. "Wait—why was he even there? Does he work for Drago?"

My brows knitted together. " _How does she know about him?_ " I murmured to Hiccup.

"What?" Stromfly piped up.

"Also, are you fluent in dragon language?" 'Fishlegs' asked. "Can you teach me? Please? Please?"

"Oh! I get a question!" 'Ruffnut' said. "How about, 'why the hell do you look like shit'?"

"I got a better one, like 'why aren't we leaving'?" Snotlout said.

"Wait! Lemme think of one!" 'Tuffnut' said in a panic. "I got a good one! Just let it come to me!"

Hookfang turned to us and said, "Kings, why are they so loud all the time?"

Hiccup's claws tightened against my scales. "Okay!" He shouted. "One question at a time, please!"

Everyone fell silent. It was only when my ears began to ring that I'd realized how cacophonous it had been.

I looked up in time to see Hiccup holding his head in his paw, a mirror image of his father. "Okay," he breathed. He sat up straighter and turned to Astrid. "He was the one trading with Bertha—that's how she got that huge ship she brought to Berk. Also, can you tell us how _you_ know about Drago?" He paused, and then with fear tinging his voice, "Did some of his men go to Berk?"

"No," Astrid reassured him. "But it looks like Bertha's our common denominator. We captured her around the same time you two were taken prisoner. She told us all about Drago, except where he was. Because apparently _that's_ where she draws the line."

"What a quitter," 'Ruffnut' grumbled.

"Well, if you wanna know where Drago is…" Hiccup flopped a paw at the shrinking shadow-nest and said in a sullen heave, "There you go."

His tone carried all the exhaustion and agony we had borne at the shadow-man's paws. Our time there had been short, but torturous. As tempting as it was to flaunt our victory, the only thing I truly wanted was rest.

" _We save human, and then go home_ ," I said. " _I'm tired._ "

" _Me too_ ," Hiccup almost laughed, although there was no humor in his voice. He looked over at our confused friends, and with great warmth in his voice, he said, "But, guys…thank you. I-I don't know what would have happened to us if you didn't show up when you did."

"What are cousins for?" Snotlout said, striking a dramatic pose. "Besides, this _definitely_ makes things even between us, right?"

Hiccup paused. "You don't have to make things even, Snotlout," he said in a gentle voice. His shoulder hunched, and he cast a meek look at me. "I know I haven't been making it easy."

Snotlout grimaced and turned his head away, but I still caught the guilt in his eyes. "W-well, that's good then, because I was running out of ideas." He suddenly jolted upright and shouted, "Anyways, I get dibs on saving the random guy! Hookfang, let's go!"

Hookfang was busy eyeing the floating-trees below. They were now a considerable distance behind us; the wake was no longer behind it, as if it had stopped. "Do you think there's food down there?"

I huffed. " _We'll_ go get him—the rest of you stay back. The Color-Shifter is still singing, but I know it won't affect us." Our nestmates bowed, and I summarized to Hiccup, " _Us go get human and Color-Shifter._ "

Hiccup nodded and pressed close to me, tightening his legs and paws. "We'll be right back," he said. "And then…"

He suddenly seemed to lose his confidence, tensing up and forcing a deep breath.

"…could you tell me how Dad's doing, Astrid?"

She blinked, surprised, and smiled reassuringly. "O-of course. Don't worry, Hiccup."

With that, I stretched my wings out and thrust them down.

The air became my foe, batting at me from every direction. I was far too tired to be pulling off fancy maneuvers—but I just wanted to go _home._ I just wanted to _rest._ Then we could think of how to deal with the shadow-human, the song dragons, and the humans of Berk.

Hiccup kept us stable as we picked up speed, counteracting any stray gusts of wind that pushed me astray. We were by no means flying at our fastest—but the Color-Shifter was directly ahead, and we were _so close_ to being completely free of this horrid place up in the north.

" _I'm so tired_ ," Hiccup moaned, echoing my own thoughts. " _But I'm worried about Dad, and the song dragons, and…_ him."

" _It is fine_ ," I hummed for the both of us. " _We need sleep, and then we can think._ "

We were nearly halfway to the wayward Color-Shifter, close enough to hear the human's cries for help. Even from here, I could see his eyes bugging out, his paws clenched around the Color-Shifter's spines.

" _What should we do with that human?_ "

"Uh… _bring him home with us?_ " Hiccup suggested, although he sounded about as enthusiastic about it as I felt. " _What was your plan with him?_ On the armada?"

" _Hope_ ," I said bluntly, drawing a short laugh from him. It took my sleep-deprived mind to process a _real_ answer—and to remember a rather important detail that I had forgotten about the human's plan. "Oh! _I think he has a floating-tree? His flare needed to go to it? We can take him there._ "

" _Where?_ " Hiccup asked, leaning over to peer down at the ocean.

The ocean was empty save for the floating-tree nest, which was now considerably behind us. I fixated on it, staring with narrowed eyes.

It _had_ stopped—now it was moving at a slow crawl, winding down after its brief flight through the waters. There was nothing else in sight.

Both Hiccup and I let out a worried hum. I twisted around and pushed my speed to its limit, Hiccup being the only thing keeping me stable. There was only a short gap between us and the Color-Shifter left, and we drew up to them in just a few moments.

"Hey! _Hey!_ " 'Eret' cried, scrambling uselessly on the Color-Shifter's many spines. "Get me off of this thing!"

"Home... _hm_ …Home!" the Color-Shifter wheezed, his blank eyes dead-set on where the escaped nest of dragons had gone.

"Don't worry!" Hiccup said. "Just calm down and hold still, okay?"

Eret's eyes were huge and panicked. "My men are still down there!" He shouted in an angry, shrill voice, pointing a paw at the halted floating-tree nest. "We were supposed to sail away during the distraction, but I'll bet they waited for me!"

Hiccup and I shared a look.

"Home… _hm_ …home," the Color-Shifter said.

"I'm…sorry," Hiccup said, slumping against my back.

'Eret' gave a sarcastic laugh. "Well, 'sorry' doesn't set sails! 'Sorry' doesn't change minds! _Actions_ do, and ours is done and over with!" He scanned the ocean, shifting between clutching to the Color-Shifter tighter and leaning out to get a better view. His voice filled with despair, "He knew it was me. He figured it out, and my men are trapped down there with him. I promised them I'd keep them safe after...after..."

He hung his head, teeth bared and eyes clenched—and then whipped towards us. "We have to go back."

" _No!_ " Hiccup and I gasped, the both of us shaking our heads. The shadow-man was atrocious and needed to be stopped, yes, but we needed at least a _little_ break!

"You owe me!" 'Eret' said, flapping his paw at us. "If it weren't for me, you'd be locked up in some dingy cage!"

"You're also the _reason_ we were locked up in some dingy cage," Hiccup pointed out with no small amount of frustration. I growled and nodded, baring my teeth.

'Eret' looked away, glaring at the Color-Shifter's hide.

A small moment passed: the warming wind racing past, the clouds shifting overhead, the Color-Shifter singing and muttering.

"Eret, I'm sorry," Hiccup said. "I really am. But we can't go back—Drago will trap us again, if he doesn't just kill us."

"So my men pay the price?" 'Eret' moaned. " _Please_ , we have to do something. Can't you get those dragons to come back and attack the armada?"

The flock was all but gone, having fled like their very lives depended on it. They were mirages on the sky's edge, an occasional glint of color. The cloud cover above wasn't helping, providing easy cover.

"They're in no hurry to come back, either," Hiccup said. "They're probably going back to their nest."

"You mean the feral Alpha's nest?" 'Eret' said, his voice filling with apprehension. "The one Drago just set sail towards?"

Hiccup froze. "They're heading…for the King's nest?"

Our nestmates began to shout behind us. I whipped around and bristled at seeing them racing towards us, defying a direct order. While the risk of the Color-Shifter was minimal, it was still a risk nonetheless, and…

…why were they pointing at the ocean?

Dread filled me heart before I had even looked down.

A mountain of saltwater twisted and bulged, dwarfing the halted floating-trees. In an enormous spray, the young King burst out into the open. This far away, he almost looked normal-sized.

He reared up, opened his gasping maw—

—and blasted ice shrapnel directly into the ocean again.

But this time, the ocean _responded._

The inky waters writhed and frothed. An enormous shadow flickered in the frigid sea, several times the size of the young King. The King let loose a panicked roar lacking any confidence, flinging ice in a wide swath before him.

Fog exploded from the ocean. It was of breathtaking size, an enormous spout just in front of the floating-tree nest, and it moved at almost supernatural speed.

A blast of cold air. The fog whorled past like a living thing. Our nestmates caught up with us.

"Hiccup, what's—" Astrid began.

"Cover your ears!" Hiccup screeched, throwing his paws around the sides of my head.

A shadow-consumed figure shifted within the fog, something of such enormity that even with the great distance between us, it was almost as if it were mere feet away.

" _FLY!_ " I screamed. " _NOW!_ "

I flung us forward, as fast as I could get from that damned shadow-nest. Our nestmates followed and, thank the gods, the Color-Shifter picked up his pace as well.

Almost breathless with disbelief, I risked a glance over my shoulder. Between the fog, the shadow-shrouded… _thing_ …opened a gaping maw. It almost looked like a mountain was working itself in two, earthquake by earthquake.

We were far enough away that when it roared, it did not quite deafen us. It was still so tremendous in volume that it felt physical and real, shaking the world about us and slowing us down considerably as we tried to maintain both our speed and stability. Hiccup's paws tightened around me, clenching down to muffle out the worst of it.

Immediately I was struck with familiarity at the sound. It was full of pain and longing, fear and hopelessness. Yet while it teemed at its surface with emotion, it all seemed so superficial—it was almost like it was empty, a shell, just like…

The Color-Shifter spun around and doubled back.

"Wait, wait, wait, I've changed my mind!" 'Eret' yowled.

"Grab them!" I commanded.

Barf-and-Belch had taken up our rear, and with a deft swoop, he buffeted the Color-Shifter and grabbed him by his midsection. Any dragon in their right mind would have screamed and howled, furious at the risk posed to their wings and tails—but the Color-Shifter hardly struggled at all before he let himself fall limp.

'Eret', however, was pinned between the Color-Shifter and Barf-and-Belch. He wriggled around and shouted, "Can somebody _please_ get me off of this thing?!"

" _Oh, no_ ," Hiccup murmured. " _It's going to sing—hurry!_ "

"W-what?" Stormfly whimpered, huddling as close to Hookfang as she could.

"Hiccup, what is going on?!" Astrid demanded, her voice high with fear.

"Yeah, what is that thing?" 'Fishlegs' shrieked.

Hiccup pressed closer, urging me forward. "I don't know!" He said. "But I think it's about to—"

The song cut across the air like fish through water.

" _No!_ " Hiccup hissed at it. " _Fly! Fly! Fly!_ "

Already I could feel it upon me, even with Hiccup's paws wrapped firmly around my ears. My head pounded in sync with it, my hearing grew dim save for that hollow, solemn sound. My eyelids fluttered, and I swayed back and forth.

It was buzzing through me, filling my head with the very same fog that had swallowed us. Just like the roar that had overcome us, it was both full and empty, something that was not whole, something that was missing the most vital part of itself. It clogged through my senses, dulling the outside world. It almost seemed to open up a hole in my heart, sucking me away until only the shell of my body remained.

" _Hiccup…_ " I murmured.

" _TOOTHLESS!_ "

I jolted.

I'd begun to pull us away, trying to twist around to go back towards the floating-trees. Had it not been for my impaired flying, we would have already been barreling through the fog right back towards it.

" _W-what?!_ " I gasped.

Hiccup's claws were tight around me, and he had pressed his forehead against mine. " _It-is-fine_ ," he growled through clenched teeth.

His voice was tight and labored. With a burst of fear, I realized that _Hiccup_ was being affected, too—even if it was not to the same extent as me.

" _It-is-fine_ ," I hissed. I glanced over my shoulder and saw all of our nestmates struggling, shaking their heads as their human companions held onto them for dear life. "Fight it!" I commanded. "Keep flying! Keep flying!"

"No!" Stormfly wailed, darting to and fro like she could physically dodge the song. "Stop! Make it _stop!_ "

"Ah! Hiccup!" Astrid yelped, her paws clinging to the rope looped around Stormfly. "Where are we going?!"

"We have to—get away—from it!" He managed to grind out.

"Wait!" 'Fishlegs' said. He pointed back at the floating-trees. "What is that?!"

Even though my head was pounding, I glanced backwards.

A crowd of dragons was bursting away from the small shape of the shadow-nest. I wracked my memories for a reason _why_ the shadow-man would allow such a thing to happen. I knew 'Eret' had said something about opening their cages—had he been unable to close them in all the chaos? Had he let his arrogance take ahold of him, uncaring that they were exposed to the open sky?

"The—song dragons," Hiccup breathed. "Then—that's really—the source."

The shadowy _thing_ was still wavering within the thick fog. The occasional burst of neon-blue signaled the young King's desperate attempts to ward it off. He might as well have been a mouse screeching up at a dragon, he was so small in comparison.

"So, I don't know about you guys," 'Ruffnut' drawled, "but I'd like to get away from the spooky cloud monster!"

"I second that opinion!" 'Tuffnut' said, lifting his paw up in the air.

"What about the Chief?!" Astrid demanded. "He's still sailing right towards it!"

Both Hiccup and I froze.

The song seemed to intensify. I clenched my eyes shut against it.

Meatlug cried out with horror, "Brace yourselves!"

There was a wave of cold, so thick and powerful that it was as if I could reach out with my paws and snatch it up in my claws. A gale struck us from behind from the same direction that the floating-trees were. It filled my wings, flinging me around and around—!

Literally every single dragon and human let out the same confused, terrified screech. The world melted into a confusing cacophony of deep blues and the occasional flash of color.

By some miracle, Hiccup managed to hold on. He pulled and _pulled_ to my left, and I fought to flip myself around. The air was as thick as the ice of the floating-tree nest and as heavy as the shadows of the monster-human, doing everything in its power to whirl me around and around until I fell to my death.

"Level out!" He cried, his voice catching in the wind and disappearing into the gales. "Level out, level out, level out!"

I pulled my wings in and flung my tail in a sharp arc. Hiccup stopped pushing and squared himself on my back, and I snapped my wings out as flat as they would go.

In moments, the rushing wind went from a thundering force hammering down upon me to something that was almost an ally. With it at my tail, I shot forward at a speed that normally would have been only accomplished through the use of magic.

It was everything I could to keep my body in-line. One small move, one mistake, and we'd go into another tailspin. The wind was too strong for me to risk looking over my shoulder.

"Is everyone alright?" Hiccup shouted, but he didn't shift around to check.

Above us, I heard Stormfly shriek, " _Too fast!_ "

The wind took us up in its wings, turning the ocean below into a smooth blur. Every outcry, be it human or dragon, was quickly lost in the rush of it, leaving behind only the faint impression that someone was nearby.

Despite it all, I could still feel the vibrations of the song, still hear it lingering just within range. It was softer now, like it was far away. Thankfully, the roar of the wind and Hiccup's paws clamped tight around my ears were all I needed to block it out.

It took several minutes for the phenomena to fade. My entire body was aching from the strain, and my heart hammered so loud in my ears that it almost deafened me.

"Is everyone…alright?" I heaved.

I glanced behind and gave an exhausted sigh of relief. Our nestmates had managed _not_ to fall to their deaths, and all of them looked just as winded and weary as I felt.

Their humans were in various states of "holding on"; the look-alike humans were dangling from Barf-and-Belch's tails, Snotlout was hanging halfway off of Hookfang's neck, and 'Fishlegs' had fallen off completely and was held in Meatlug's claws. Astrid was the only one who had managed to stay in place, and she was slumped against Stormfly's neck as if she had lost consciousness. The Color-Shifter was still clutched tight in Barf-and-Belch's claws. 'Eret' was pinned behind him, groaning and holding his head.

And just behind them, impossibly, was the flock of singing dragons. The fog was at their tails.

Was it my imagination, or had it flown through the sky at the same speed that we had?

" _But…how?!_ " Hiccup gasped, having twisted around and seen the same thing.

Our nestmates followed our gazes and snorted with surprise and confusion.

"My Kings, what shall we do?!" Meatlug wheezed. "We are now flung too astray from the human King's floating-trees. We must land soon, and away from those vile creatures!"

"Especially for the yearlings!" Barf-and-Belch worried, eyeing Stormfly and Hookfang.

"Home…" the Color-Shifter whimpered.

"Hey, guys, great idea!" Snotlout groused, pulling himself up into place. "How about we get the hell out of here?"

"Hiccup, what the hell just happened?!" Astrid demanded.

"I don't know," Hiccup growled. "We gotta look for somewhere to go—we need to get away from those song dragons!"

Everybody twisted around in desperate search of _something._ All that could be seen was ocean, interrupted only by a smudge back towards the fog and…

"No way," Hiccup gasped. Raising his voice, he pointed and cried out, "There!"

At the very same moment, the Color-Shifter suddenly gasped with delight, "HOME!"

A grunt from Barf-and-Belch, a startled shriek from 'Eret', and a blur of color zoomed past. The Color-Shifter flapped for all he was worth, revitalized at the comforting sight of his nest, and rocketed towards a small speck of jagged ice on the horizon. It was so far away that I had almost missed it.

Hiccup and I shared a look. Bringing our humans to a nest that had spent a better portion of its time _attacking_ Berk would likely result in mild conflict, to say the least.

A quick glance behind us proved what I already knew. The flock of singing dragons was even closer, but the smudge on the horizon nowhere to be found.

We had no choice.

" _We need to go_ ," I said. Hiccup winced and nodded, and I shouted, "Follow the Color-Shifter! This is the nest of the foreign dragons! We must be cautious, and keep careful watch over our humans!"

" _Understood!_ " our nestmates shouted, although all of them sounded just the slightest bit concerned about charging into an enemy nest unannounced. They took up position into a flare, with Barf-and-Belch and Meatlug taking up the back and the two yearlings safely at the front.

"Is that place gonna be safe?" 'Fishlegs' whimpered.

"Yes," Hiccup said. "It's the nest of the King—I-I mean, uh…" He grimaced. "The nest of the dragons that have been raiding Berk."

"What?!" Snotlout snapped. "Sure, let's go there, what could go wrong!"

"Well, there's no other place for us _to_ go," Astrid heaved, although she couldn't keep the worry about of her voice. She placed a paw on a panting Stormfly, who breathlessly smiled up at her. "Right?"

"It'll be alright," Hiccup said. He straightened up and set them with his eyes. "We won't let them hurt you. You're part of our nest, too."

The humans quieted, all of them looking to him with worried eyes. The fog drifted on the horizon behind them, the song dragons holding fast to their charge.

Hiccup sent a fleeting glance over his shoulder, back towards the fog, back across the endless horizon where the shadow-nest lied, where that otherworldly creature—the _source_ —had revealed itself. His voice turned to a growl, determined and shaking ever-so-slightly.

"And it's about time we faced this."


	21. Chapter 20

**Hello, everyone!**

 **I'm excited for this one...it's a universal favorite amongst my betas and I!**

 **Before we get started, I want to thank** **Anonymous Noob the 2nd, FyrandTheGryffinclaw, CrisDLZ, Samateus-Taal, Flopy, Varghul, Elt-1080, sadmann, NightShadow9558, TheWhisperingWarrior, Surprise Crayfish, Crysist, and all anonymous reviewers for all of your kind reviews! I'd also like to thank my beta Crysist for staying up late with me to go over this!**

 **As always, reviews are greatly appreciated! Getting feedback is literally the greatest gift that I can ask from my readers.**

 **I hope you have a fantastic day!**

* * *

 **Chapter 20**

Toothless

The Color-Shifter led us directly into his nest.

There were no dragons lingering on its outside, giving it the impression of an egg that had been quiet for too long. It was possible that life thrived within it, however weak it was—but it was also possible that it had faded, leaving nothing but a sad reminder of what could have been.

It was only with Hiccup's support that I was able to traverse the curves of the tunnel leading inside the nest. There were far too many turns, and eventually, we were forced to land inside the tunnel or risk smacking into a wall. Needless to say, we weren't too keen on injuring ourselves _again_ , and so our entire flare allowed the Color-Shifter to dart out of sight.

We ran in silence, the low lighting casting soft shadows onto the stone and ice pillars surrounding us. Even the more obnoxious of the humans knew to keep quiet. As we ran, I felt an odd warmth growing inside the stones beneath my paws, I began to smell foliage and fresh dragon-scent, and I began to catch the softest whispers.

Beneath it all was an odd humming, something familiar and yet different all at once.

There was no time to mull it over. Just up ahead, there was a unified outcry of horror and confusion. It melted quickly into snarls and growling, the hissing of fire being prepared.

" _WAIT!_ " Hiccup shouted, his voice echoing through the cavern.

We charged out into the open, and I nearly stumbled over my own paws from the shock of it.

The nest really _was_ like a shell. Golden light filtered in from the sun above, the sky having not yet been coated in the hunting fog. Brilliantly-colored plants and ice peppered every surface, and even more brilliant dragons perched upon them. It was bright and warm, and the comfort of it was unfamiliar after having been trapped in cold darkness for so long. The grass was soft underfoot, and a bright and crisp scent hung in the air, as if this garden beneath the ice was locked in spring forever.

All at once my exhaustion caught up with me. I could lie down right where I stood and sleep for _days_.

Instead, I stumbled towards the confused, panting Color-Shifter and the frightened human 'Eret' at his side. I stopped just beside them and eyed the growing ring of dragons around us. All of them were crouched low, eyes wide, fire seeping between their teeth.

"Wait!" I repeated Hiccup's call. "Stay your fire—he's an ally! All of these humans are!"

The dragons hissed with fear as our nestmates caught up with us, rushing to stand at our sides. They formed a protective circle with us, each dragon facing a separate direction and keeping 'Eret' and the Color-Shifter on the inside.

"Yeah, we're all friendly!" Stormfly bellowed, flaring her wings. "We're not mean dragons like _you!_ "

"Hush, Stormfly!" Both Meatlug and Barf-and-Belch scolded.

Stormfly pouted and lowered her head. Astrid gave her a little pat on the shoulder.

A shocked, hushed silence had fallen over the nest. Several of the strangers reared and fled, all of them heading towards a dee pit off to the side. Many more only backed up a little bit, their heads still lowered in fighting stances, their confused and hurt eyes trained on Hiccup.

As grim as it was, I was unsurprised to see that all of the dragons were adults or elders. Not a single younger dragon was in sight. I wasn't quite sure, but it seemed as though their numbers were much smaller than when they had attacked Berk. There was plenty of open space— _too much_ open space—and the foreigners seemed all too aware of it. They huddled together in small groups for protection, making their nest appear to shrink even more.

Despite their reduced size, they still far outnumbered us—and yet they shrunk away in fear, as if I barreled into their nest with soulfire blazing through my scales.

It took several breathless heartbeats for one of them to come forward: the orange, four-winged dragon that had lead their final attack on Berk. I wrinkled my nose at him. He took quick notice and fell into an odd, deep bow.

"S-Saviors?" he greeted, his voice filled with shock. "These humans...they're...they're…" He began to speak more, but then stopped himself and waited, his eyes filled with guilt and his tail twitching in his discomfort.

"'Friendly' is the word you're looking for," I said. Raising my voice, I made sure to stare down every dragon in the vicinity and added, "An attack on them is an attack on us."

The dragons all murmured to each other, curling further away and some snapping at the air. The four-winged dragon hesitated.

"They're... _humans_ ," he growled. "They hunt our kind, kill us for sport, turn us to slaves! Our King will not allow such evil to linger here!"

"Do I need to repeat myself?" I sneered, raising my lip to show teeth.

Hiccup stood up straighter on my back. He gestured at our humans and said firmly, " _Friends._ "

The dragon focused on Hiccup. Apprehension flickered in his eyes...but also trust. "V-very well, Saviors," he stammered, lowering himself into another bow. His nestmates began taking small steps backwards, relaxing just enough to not be a direct threat The four-winged dragon peeked up at Hiccup and added, "I am deeply sorry for how we parted ways. It fills me with great shame to have left you as I did."

Hiccup paused, having not quite understood, and settled on a gentle, " _Don't worry_." He lifted himself higher up on my shoulders so he could be more easily seen. " _I'm happy you're safe after that._ "

" _Don't be nice to him, Hiccup!_ " I admonished my brother, who rolled his eyes. As I spoke, the foreigner tipped his head completely to the side.

"So, you speak like that, too…" he murmured. He squinted, and asked Hiccup, "But you are much easier to understand than before, although I still can't quite place your exact words. Can you understand _me?_ "

Hiccup hummed thoughtfully for a second. " _Uh…speak slower, please?_ "

Hiccup himself had slowed his speech down. The orange dragon paused, still confused, and then nodded uncertainly.

"Who are you?" I asked, returning to the matters at wing. "Where is your King? We have urgent matters to discuss with him."

"I am a Four-Wing, and the second-in-command," he said. "And our King is just over there, although he is in deep concentration." He nodded towards a steep cliff in the cavern coated in a faint mist. "The song dragons have flown over more frequently, as have the humans and their… _things_ …in these waters. Surely you've noticed by now that our nest is less than half its original size."

I nodded absentmindedly, my eyes and ears trained on where he had pointed. It was where some of his nestmates had fled away to, and the humming was reverberating from there. It wasn't the song—but it was almost _like_ it. Yet it did not cloud my mind as the song did, and instead it seemed bright and full and whole.

"Saviors, what…what has happened to our Color-Shifter?"

I jolted, realizing that I had been staring off to the side, and stepped away with a nod. The Four-Wing rushed forward—to the terror of 'Eret'—and sniffed him over.

"Color-Shifter?" he murmured. "My Color-Shifter, what happened?! Why…"

"The banished..." the Color-Shifter said, his sole visible eye blank. He was still partially-camouflaged, even though the danger of the shadow-nest had passed. " _Hm_...the banished…"

The Four-Wing reared. "He's—he's singing!" he gasped. "But—but he can still speak?" He prodded at the motionless Color-Shifter and raised his voice. "Color-Shifter! It's me, Four-Wing! Can't you hear me?"

" _Hm_ …" the Color-Shifter sang. "Home…it's coming… _hm_ …"

The Four-Wing growled uneasily. "Color-Shifter! Don't you want to gloat to me that you were right about the human Savior not being a fledgling? Or of your ability to reunite him with the dragon Savior?"

"That was my doing," I said casually, shooting him a look from the corner of my eye.

"Color-Shifter!" the Four-Wing cried again, ignoring my jab at him. He butted his friend's forehead, and even tried to lick his snout to get him to react. When all his attempts failed, he lowered his head and took a small step backwards. "But…why…"

" _We don't know_ ," Hiccup said. " _But we need to talk to your King. He might help._ " He sighed, drooping. " _I wasn't...good enough._ "

" _Yes, you were_ ," I snorted, shooting him an admonishing look. He looked unconvinced, watching the Color-Shifter with tired eyes.

" _The King can help_ ," Hiccup said. " _And we need to talk to him._ "

"I already told you where the King was," the Four-Wing choked, bowing his head and closing his eyes. The frills lining his cheeks drooped. "Dragon of the Sun…Color-Shifter…This is my doing. I'm so sorry I left you behind. Instead I flew back here…you were right about me being a coward all those days ago."

"Should someone give that dragon a hug or something?" 'Tuffnut' whispered to nobody. "He's lookin' _pretty_ glum."

"I volunteer Fishlegs," 'Ruffnut' fake-whispered back.

"What?!" the unlucky human yelped.

" _Uh, please no_ ," Hiccup stammered to them, forgetting to speak in human tongue. They all blinked at him in confusion, but he had already turned back to the Four-Wing. " _It is fine, Four-Wing—I promise. We will help you and the Color-Shifter._ "

He peeked up at Hiccup, and with eyes sparking with hope, he asked, "Did you say…you will help?"

"He did," I said. "And on that note…" I broke off from our group, stalking along the dew-coated grass and towards the edge of the cliffs.

Hiccup twisted around on my back and said, "Don't worry, guys—they're not gonna attack you. We're going to try to talk to the King now." He paused, and added, "Uh, fair warning, he's _really_ big."

Astrid and 'Fishlegs' nodded, having the mind to hold their tongues for now. The others, however…

"Quick question: why'd you just growl at us?" Snotlout said. "I mean, don't we want these dragons to _not_ attack us?"

"Who cares? I'm gonna take a look around!" 'Ruffnut' shouted. There was a _thump_ that was quickly followed by, " _Gods_ , Barf, lemme go!"

" _T'as besoin d'aide_ , dear sister?" 'Tuffnut' said melodramatically.

I reached the cliffs before I could see how exactly _that_ played out. They fell away into a deep, deep pool of blue water, such an enrapturing shade of _blue_ that I was astounded at the sight. The water bubbled and steamed, and within that white mist, I could just make out the shape of the elderly King.

"King!" I shouted. "I am one of the Saviors, and I would like to have a word with you!"

" _Toothless!_ " Hiccup gasped at my informal, somewhat-rude tone. " _Be nice!_ "

" _No!_ " I grunted stubbornly back at him. Hiccup rewarded me with a tug at me ear, and I groused, "Ugh, _alright!_ "

The water below suddenly shifted. There was a halt in the humming. There was a huge burst of frothing water as the mist bulged around something enormous.

The King shook his head, sending a small rain onto us and clearing the mists. Crystalline-blue eyes settled on us. He approached, rising up from the deep sea vent he had been resting in, ever-careful to keep enormous, dangerous tusks from colliding with anything.

Hiccup had warned me that the King was of the same species as the one the shadow-man held prisoner. I had expected him to be this size, this _intimidating_ , and yet…

He was so much bigger, so much older, so much _grander_ than even the Queen had been. Age had turned his scales white, something almost unheard of in smaller dragon breeds, and he almost seemed to glow in the fading sunlight. His very presence demanded respect, and the calm and almost gentle way he looked down at us showed he knew it well.

Behind us, I could hear stifled gasps of fear from the humans. A quick glance behind showed that the look-alikes and Snotlout had fallen off of our nestmates from the shock of it. Astrid was gaping up from a curious Stormfly, and 'Fishlegs' had pulled out some paper and was writing in it as fast as his paws could go.

I turned away from them only to see the King's eyes trained on them. Energy zipped through my spine, making my limbs go tense.

Worst of all was the sound—or the lack thereof. The King said nothing; instead, he hummed. It was the very same humming that I had somewhat recognized and had heard before even entering the nest. He never let it fade, not even as he frowned at the humans in his nest, turned unreadable eyes back down to us, and twisted his great head to allow his tusks to rest on either side of us.

"He can talk to us if we touch them," Hiccup explained to me in a whisper. " _I don't know why—I think it is physical magic._ "

" _But why…why use it on_ you?" I murmured. " _How does it work?_ "

Before Hiccup could respond, the humming stopped...and the King answered for him. His voice was deep, roaring at my eardrums and making them vibrate almost painfully. Yet as huge as his words were, he spoke very softly and gently, aware that speaking even a little bit louder would cause physical harm. Every one of his words were long and drawn-out, and it took me several seconds to actually _understand_ what he was saying.

"Greetings, Saviors," he rumbled. "I may speak to you like this, but I would prefer both Saviors understand me."

Hiccup was already leaning off of my side and reaching a paw out at one of the King's tusks. He hesitated just an inch away, took in a deep breath, and let the tips of his paw rest on it. A violent shudder went through him.

" _You okay?!_ " I gasped, my wings fluttering.

"Y-yeah," he grunted, squeezing his eyes shut in a grimace. "I'll _never_ get used to that."

I frowned worriedly and, with a lot more hesitation than I liked, extended a wing to make contact. Almost immediately, I felt a presence just at my heart, where my magic was contained. Hiccup was right that it was physical magic—that much was clear, as the King needed to be touching us in order to "speak". It did not have the "feel" that the Queen's and Hiccup's magic once had, in a way I could describe it. It was enormous, _powerful_ magic—so much so that it could defy the normal boundaries of physical magic, becoming something _almost_ like the Queen's mental magic.

It was not a comforting thought.

"I will speak now," the great King said.

 _Greetings, Saviors._

I flinched away with a sharp hiss. Hiccup purred. I forced myself to focus on that—on him—and it eased my fears enough for me to stretch my wing out again.

"May I speak again?" The King asked, his voice ever-soft.

I twisted my head to meet Hiccup's eyes. He was ducking his head, eyes squinted and teeth bared.

" _Yes_ ," Hiccup grunted, although his voice was strained.

 _I am sorry for the distress this causes you_ , the King said. _I will try to make this brief._

My body tensed up involuntarily. I shook my head, for all the good it would do, and lashed my tail. The last time a voice had invaded me like this, it had been in an unfamiliar world of shadow and blood. It had been when Hiccup and I had been picked away from each other day-by-day until there was nothing left.

 _I can see that the both of you are wounded_ , the King worried. _I may heal you, dragon-Savior. I cannot risk the same with you, human-Savior—I deeply apologize._

" _It is fine_ ," Hiccup sighed. " _Toothless? Please?_ "

" _No._ " I shook my head. " _You heal both of us, or none of us._ "

Hiccup actually groaned. " _Toothless!_ " He leaned over so that he could stare me in the eye. " _Now isn't the time!_ "

" _What about you, then?_ " I shot back. My memories flashed to him at the shadow-man's feet, beaten and too weak to lift himself upright. "You _need it more_ ," I growled.

Hiccup gave me The Look. It was his tired, pleading, "I-don't-want-to-argue-with-you" look that I only got when we were arguing and both of us knew that I was, in some part, in the wrong.

" _I want you to feel better_ ," Hiccup said softly. " _Please let him heal you, Toothless._ "

Dragon of the Sun, did he _have_ to look so _sad_ about it?

" _Ugh!_ " I groaned, averting my eyes from him and pawing at the ground in frustration. With a fleeting glance up at the King, I growled, " _Fine!_ "

A small smile quirked at the edge of his lips. Then a rush of crackling warmth rattled through me. It was a burning wave, something that made my very nerves zing with sputtering energy. In its wake, I was left refreshed and revitalized, and the pain in my spine subsided. I shuddered and shook myself down, removing my wing in the process.

Too much like her, he was too much like her…

Hiccup pressed his cheek against my forehead and hummed soothingly. I took a moment, inhaling deeply, and returned my wing to its original position.

" _Thank you_ ," I ground out. " _This is much better._ "

The King offered another smile, although it was weak. _It is the least I can do._ His face fell. _But time is of the essence. You come here wounded—from what?_

" _A human floating-tree nest_ ," Hiccup said. " _Song dragons were there, and flying here now._ "

Our language didn't have enough vocabulary. Grudgingly, I clarified, "The human shadow-nest had many song dragons on it. We believe the source is nearby, and is responsible for the massive fog storms we've been seeing recently. There was a huge bout of fog, and _something_ enormous moved within it. Somehow it blasted us with wind, all the way here."

The King did not waver with fear as we had. _So that is how the fog storms travel so rapidly. And the source and song dragons are headed this way?_

Both Hiccup and I nodded.

"And the human nest as well," I added. "Although it stopped moving right away."

The King lifted his head towards the top of his nest, where a small crack in the shell opened up to the sky.

With a great heave, he spewed ice upon it, closing the nest from the inside-out. The golden light turned blue-green and much dimmer. When the King returned his gaze to us, his eyes were like two icy suns, glowing in the dim, cool light. He offered his tusk to us, and we placed our paws on it.

 _I am deeply grateful for your prompt arrival_ , he said. _Had you been moments too late…_

He raised a lip, revealing hundreds of teeth longer than my entire wingspan.

" _Why are you singing?_ " Hiccup blurted. The King tilted his head, confused, and Hiccup clarified, " _You were singing when your nestmates took me here, too. Like this._ " He mimicked the humming we had heard just moments ago in a brief burst, " _Mh…_ "

It vibrated against my ears and side-frills.

 _Ah, yes,_ the King said. _It is all I can do to keep my nestmates safe_ , _both by keeping them here, and through this._

 _It is the counter-song. If the song is the moon, then it is the sun. If the song is the ocean, then then it is the cliffs that hold firm against it. If the song is hatred, then it is love. It is opposite to it in every way._

" _How does it work?_ " I asked, squinting.

 _When I first became aware of the song, I set out to study it_ , the King explained. _In those days, it was too weak to pose a threat. I listened carefully, and found that singing its notes backwards had a confusing effect on the dragons affected. It is no cure, but I believe it is enough of a deterrent to keep them away from my nestmates, simply because my voice is extraordinarily loud for a dragon._

 _After your departure, I set out to sing at all times. No more of my nestmates have been taken by the song, although the same cannot be said about the humans that plague us. Except for…_

He turned sorrowful eyes behind us.

 _My poor Color-Shifter, who you seem to have half-cured…something more than I could ever say for myself._

The Color-Shifter, standing far behind us, was still standing in the exact same spot he'd been in.

The King gave a long, weary sigh full of remorse and guilt. _The counter-song does not heal—it only opposes the song. It is…supportive, so to speak. That is why I did not teach it to you, as I feared that you would attempt to use it as a shield only for it to fail._ He drooped guiltily at this. _But, despite that...how did you manage such a feat?_

I'd been wondering the same thing myself. I glanced up at Hiccup.

He swallowed, looking almost guilty. " _Soulfire._ They're connected, somehow. _When we speak the word, it…_ " He waved a paw. "It seems to be a…distraction?"

The King paused, his expression unchanging, and spoke out loud, "My Color-Shifter, please come forth."

I twisted around. The Color-Shifter was standing there, dull eye focused dead-ahead. The Four-Wing nosed him by his rump and then walked him towards us with their sides pressed together. He looked as though he were guiding a blinded elder through his nest.

" _Hm…_ " The Color-Shifter sang. "Home…it's coming…home…"

The King sang the counter-song, filling the shell of the nest with its resolute notes. It was an almost sad sound, yet not quite like the song. Where the song was lamentful, the counter-song was almost accepting. Where one was empty and broken, the other had worked itself together despite the small cracks littering its surface.

The Color-Shifter went rigid and lowered his head. " _Hm?_ What…why…?"

Hiccup shifted his weight. He leaned out as far as he could, stretching his paw to rest on the Color-Shifter's forehead.

" _Mh_ …" he sang, an almost perfect imitation of the King. " _Mh_ …"

The Color-Shifter trembled. His scales flickered. Half there—then gone—then whole—then halfway again.

Hiccup pulled the Color-Shifter close to him. " _Mh…mh…_ "

The Color-Shifter's body turned whole, his missing half melting into view. He stared forward, stricken, with all his limbs frozen in place.

" _AIE!_ " He screeched, rearing up and flailing, snapping and clawing at the air. He lost his balance and fell backwards. I ducked out of the way just before his whipping tail snapped right across my face.

"Color-Shifter!" The Four-Wing cried, rushing to his side. The Color-Shifter twisted away from him, his eyes wild, and he slammed a paw down on his chest to hold him still. "Color-Shifter, calm yourself! It's me, your Four-Wing!"

The Color-Shifter heaved, meeting his nestmate's eyes. "Four-Wing…?" He whimpered. "What has…how…"

 _You cured him_ , the King said in amazement, his voice soft and almost imperceptible in my mind. _But how? The counter-song…_

The Four-Wing nosed the Color-Shifter to his feet. The two of them leaned heavily into each other, the Four-Wing purring and the Color-Shifter shooting baffled looks around him.

"What…how…" He caught sight of Hiccup and myself and yelped, " _Saviors?!_ We escaped?"

"No, this is part of the shadow-nest," I said with a roll of my eyes. "Of course we escaped. All of us did."

The Color-Shifter balked, shaking his head. "I don't…I can scarcely remember…" He looked over his shoulder at our nestmates—and our humans. He jerked upright. "Humans!" He hissed. "They're here! They're going to...to…" He trailed off. In a small murmur, he said, "Wait…I remember...that one…?"

He pointed his nose at 'Eret', who was still standing inside the protective circle our nestmates had formed.

I nodded. "He was the one who helped us, even though we did all the real work," I said. Hiccup pulled at my ear, apparently having picked up enough to know the brunt of what I'd said.

"Was it real?" The Color-Shifter whimpered breathlessly. "No…it's not real. It's not real."

"At ease, Color-Shifter," the Four-Wing soothed him, leaning in close. "You're safe now. You're home." He turned to us and the King and bowed deeply. "Thank you, Saviors, my King…may we please be dismissed? I'm sure my Color-Shifter is hungry, and needs some time."

The King nodded. "Your rest is well-deserved, Color-Shifter."

The Color-Shifter was still shaking, still overwhelmed. He drooped into an uneasy bow and, with the Four-Wing supporting his weight, stumbled away. The duo barely made it a few steps away before their nestmates crowded around them, crowing and crooning and asking dozens of questions that the unfortunate Color-Shifter couldn't possibly answer.

"It worked," Hiccup mumbled, sounding just as surprised as the King. He leaned back over and placed his paw on the King's tusk. "I can't believe…after all this time, I was actually able to _do_ it." A humorless laugh burst from him. "I always thought I wasn't good enough."

"Nonsense. _Hiccup smart_ ," I purred.

The King watched his nestmate, eyes filled with light in the darkness. _Thank you, Saviors_ , he said. _Thank you._ He turned his eyes to Hiccup. _We are deeply indebted to you. Please tell me, how were you able to do it the first time? What role does soul-magic play in this?_

Hiccup hummed, his brows knitting together. " _I'm not certain. I only spoke to him and said 'soulfire'…and now, I sang._ "

 _And you placed your paw upon him and held him close_ , the King observed. _Did you do that the first time as well?_

Hiccup frowned, his eyes distant as he peered into the shadows we had fled. After a moment's hesitation, he nodded.

 _This is incredibly intriguing...I am not sure what to make of this, Saviors. But I can clearly see that there is more than simply soulfire or our counter-song. They alone cannot heal…_ He let out his breath in something that was almost a chuckle. _As most complicated matters in life play out, there does not seem to be one simple solution._

"Great, of course not," Hiccup grumbled under his breath. The King laughed for real this time, however briefly.

A shadow darted above, sending a small flicker of darkness upon us. Then a second, and a third. The King's nestmates abruptly fell silent, as if talons had swept through their chatter.

The King's eyes flickered above. _Do not worry. Song dragons cannot navigate the tunnels into my nest—they are too far gone to seek out the entrances. But if humans are indeed following their path, then they may find their way into my refuge._

He bowed his great head to us.

 _Please do not allow me to waste what precious time we have left. Saviors, I beg of you—grant me the power of soulfire, so that I may put an end to this once and for all._

Hiccup and I met our eyes.

A spark launched between us, carrying with it exhaustion and confliction and wariness and determination alike.

It lasted much longer than the previous times, allowing a brief burst of confusion to carry over before it fizzled away. Hiccup and I gaped at each other, overwhelmed.

"Um…" Hiccup murmured.

" _Soulfire…is dangerous_ ," I said, struggling to compose my thoughts. "When I last used it, I was all but crippled for days."

 _You are worried that it will pose harm to me?_

Hiccup and I both nodded with varying amounts of honesty.

The King frowned, his eyes distant. _Then so it will be_ , he murmured. _For the sake of my nest…no, for all dragons…even if soulfire burns my soul beyond repair, it is a sacrifice I shall make in order to stop the source._

Hiccup and I fell silent, sharing a conflicted and uncertain look.

" _How are you certain soulfire will stop it?_ " Hiccup asked.

 _Song dragons…are not_ dragons, the King sighed. _You've seen yourselves that they have no autonomy, no thoughts, no emotion. It is almost as if their souls have been taken from them, leaving them hollow inside._

Hiccup shuddered.

 _Soulfire may well be the only force that can oppose a being that does such things to dragons. It is magic of the soul, of the gods, and its purity_ must _be enough. If its ancient power is useless in the face of the song, then…_ He stared forlornly into the shrouded skies. _…then the source would be just as strong, if not stronger, than the gods Themselves._

A beat passed as the three of us took in the gloomy proposition.

" _But we found a cure_ ," Hiccupeventually said, pointing a paw at the Color-Shifter. " _Soulfire…isn't needed?_ "

 _What is to prevent my Color-Shifter from being pulled into the fog once more?_ The King pointed out. _We are discussing treating the symptoms and not the condition. The root of it—the source—must be defeated._

"What Hiccup is saying is that there may be another solution other than soulfire," I said. "I have already forsaken the gods' gift once, and I'm not very eager to do _that_ again. Soul-magic isn't meant to be something we use when we run out of other ideas."

 _I...understand_ , the King began reluctantly, _but besides what we have recently learned,_ how _else can we stop the source?_

" _I have a plan_ ," Hiccup said. " _It's…not very good._ "

He took a breath, as if he had to brace himself against his own words.

" _Us stay here, and try to stop the source with what we know. And if that doesn't work…if something happens…we will teach you soulfire._ " He shifted around to meet my eyes, and in a small voice, asked, " _Toothless?_ "

I just wanted to go home.

But the source needed to be stopped. The shadow-human needed to be stopped.

In Hiccup's eyes, I saw the same tired resolve. Once again, that spark flew between us on unsteady wings, just as unstable as my own without Hiccup there to guide me.

Sorrow and despair still lingered there just at the edges, fear and panic ready to snatch us up in their claws. But we had seen the horrors of both the song and the shadow-man. Unchecked, we knew that both would consume the archipelago until there was nowhere safe to go.

The gods had not chosen us so that we could hide on Berk and only focus on our own problems, Hiccup and I both realized at once.

We were Saviors, too.

" _Yes_ ," I growled. " _Us fight them, and us_ win."

Hiccup smiled wearily. I returned it. The weak connection between us faded.

The King took a moment. _Thank you, Saviors_ , he almost choked. _I know how much this ails you. I see the sorrows lying heavy on your shoulders. Words cannot convey how grateful I am that you choose to stay for a foolish old King like myself._

He lowered himself into a deep bow. Hiccup returned it on my back—and then pressed down on my head when I refused to do the same. I grudgingly bobbed my head, but kept my tail high and wings folded.

When the King rose, his eyes were shining with something almost unfamiliar. _There is food from my most recent hunt for you to eat,_ he said. _And your humans may stay, although you must forgive my nestmates for their behavior towards them._ He frowned, and his aged features darkened. _An ignorant dragon would hope that the danger passes by harmlessly. I suppose, even after all of these years, that I am such a dragon._

" _No_ ," Hiccup said. " _You are a King. And there is nothing wrong in hope._ "

The King allowed a weak smile to creak across his jaw.

 _Hope…_ He repeated, like it was the first drop of fresh water after a long drought.

 _That is a word that I had forgotten._

 **o.O.o**

The King supplied us all with food. Hiccup and I told our nestmates and the humans to leave for Berk—and were quickly refused. I had expected such disobedience from Stormfly, Hookfang, and the humans, but certainly not Meatlug or Barf-and-Belch.

After a volley of "you need us" and "you're too tired to do this on your own" and "there's no way we're leaving before the fun", Hiccup and I were too damn tired to argue. We had missed home for so long, and having a part of it here offered much more comfort than I would have imagined. So all of us, humans and dragons alike, huddled together and rested beneath the eye of the storm.

The opportunity to leave faded as more and more song dragons passed overhead, sending flickers of darkness down into the deep blue-green of the nest. It was almost as if we were in an air-pocket beneath the ocean and they were fish darting around above. They could not be heard beneath the thick ice.

I didn't realize it was a problem until Hiccup spoke, his eyes locked on the flitting song dragons above.

"Dad…"

I craned my neck, humming. " _We weren't able to go to him_ ," I said. " _Don't feel bad, Hiccup._ "

It was the truth. To warn the King would entail turning around, flying _back_ towards the song dragons—and now the song dragons were here, pinning us in this eggshell-nest. They were either a group so large that it was taking them over an hour to pass overhead, or they were actively keeping close to the King's nest.

I wasn't sure which option was worse. But it meant that there was nothing we could do. It meant that the King was out there, still under the impression that we were trapped in the shadow-nest, still headed in the wrong direction.

He must have seen the fog plume leading here, but surely he would keep his distance from the shadow-nest…wouldn't he?

" _It is fine_ ," I said. " _Human King smart. And we need to eat and sleep before all this._ " I nosed some fish towards him. " _Now eat, or I will sit on you._ "

"…right," Hiccup murmured, picking up a smaller fish and picking at it. "He's okay. He _has_ to be."

We ate in silence, paradoxically uneasy and calm in the cool, dancing light.

I had wolfed down nearly half my portion before Hiccup had finished his first. Hookfang and Stormfly squabbled with each over their own helpings, and Meatlug and Barf-and-Belch periodically intervened before either of them actually trampled over someone. The human look-alikes were already asleep and 'Fishlegs' was scribbling endlessly on his paper. Astrid and Snotlout sat the closest to us, the former shooting us concerned looks and the latter obviously bored out of his mind.

We were missing one member of our "group": 'Eret'. He had refused food and wandered off to the cliffs, staring down at the King in deep thought. He rubbed his paws over his neck and eyes, and eventually sat with his face in his paws, hunched over at a sharp angle. Nobody thought it wise to approach him. I _almost_ felt pity for him as he sat there, alone in this alien world, facing his own demons.

Almost.

There was simply too much going on to bother the stranger on such personal matters—including, primarily, staying awake. I had been determined to keep alert for our nestmates, and yet I found myself blinking long and slow, struggling to keep my eyes focused. The dark lighting wasn't helping, making it seem almost to be late into the night. Hiccup was already asleep, and—

"The counter-song reminds me of you," Hiccup mumbled, curling up closer to me.

" _Ah!_ " I yelped, nearly leaping out of my scales. "Gods, Hiccup, a little warning next time?"

"Sorry," he chuckled. "But…when I heard it…when I sang it…the first thought that came to mind was you."

My heart calmed, launching me back into exhaustion. I purred drowsily, my eyelids fluttering. " _The song reminds me…of you_ ," I managed. Then, realizing just how ignorant that sounded, " _Ah, not that_ you _bad, but—but—"_

"Rude," Hiccup snickered, rolling onto his back and pawing playfully at my side-frills. "But…as weird as it sounds…when I hear the song, I almost feel…I don't know, that I get it?"

I shifted my head across the grass to look at him. He was staring up at the top of the shell, where even in the dim light, fog could be seen drifting across the horizon.

"It's just…very empty," my brother murmured. "But it also sounds so lost, and…and full of emotion. It's two opposites mashed together." He inched closer and closed his eyes, letting out a long breath. "I can relate to that."

" _But you're better_ ," I said, nosing him. " _You're_ getting _better._ "

He hummed, too exhausted to say anything else, and rumbled with a small purr. I allowed my eyes to slide shut.

Sleep came quickly.

 **o.O.o**

Hiccup

I couldn't sleep.

Toothless was knocked out beside me. I wanted like nothing else to do the same, but no matter how long I closed my eyes and tried to calm my racing thoughts, I stayed persistently and inconveniently awake.

We'd escaped. We were free. We had _survived._

The fear and panic still hovered just within reach, manifesting as a light pull on my chest, a slight shortness of breath, a trembling in my fingertips, a heartbeat that was just a little too fast. I took in deep breaths and focused on Toothless' presence against me, on keeping my body here and grounded.

The pain was still there, despite the warmth of the King's nest around us. It would be too much to say we had "won" against Drago—not when his icy bullhook still seemed to be pressed against my heart, ready to plunge in at any given moment.

But we had survived. The shadows had not consumed us. I had still been able to free the fledgling Hum-Wing and take Drago's blows, even as the world warped around me.

My thoughts swirled over and over the past few days' events. I was determined not to push them away and hide them, pretending they weren't a big deal until they boiled over. But soon I'd had enough of it, and I allowed my mind to meander away, keeping careful not to get caught in a downward spiral back into Drago's shadow-filled armada.

I must have spent a full hour lying down with my eyes squeezed shut, struggling to think and not think and _sleep_ all at once. Eventually, I decided that if I was going to stay awake, I might as well go with it. I wriggled my way out from under Toothless' wing and sat up, blinking blearily at the silent nest around us.

"Can't sleep?"

My heart leapt into my throat. I fell backs trying to twist towards Astrid, plopping onto Toothless in a fluster. She was leaning against a sleeping Stormfly's side, sharpening her axe as quietly as she could. Snotlout was laying on his back next to her, one arm thrown over his eyes.

I nodded and crept closer to her, careful not to disturb both Toothless and my injuries. Slumping against Stormfly, I sighed, "So much has happened in the past few days, it's hard to do nothing." I shrugged. "It's hard not to think about all of it."

"Just do what I do," Snotlout said, his voice slightly muffled under his arm. "Don't think at all."

I rested my head against Stormfly's side and closed my eyes. "I wish I could."

A moment passed.

"What happened down there, Hiccup?" Astrid asked, her voice soft and gentle.

Thinking of something to say was like trying to snatch darting fish in a pool. "Drago wanted me to cure his song dragons," I eventually go out. "Didn't like it so much when I couldn't."

"What about the weird one?" Snotlout said. "Ya didn't seem to have trouble with that one."

"The King helped," I murmured. My eyelids fluttered and a soft rushing sound filled my ears. It almost felt as though a weight had been placed over my body, pinning me down.

"You should really try to sleep, Hiccup," Astrid said. Her voice seemed far away.

I forced my eyes open, meeting their concerned and confused faces. My voice came out in a croak, "But…what about Dad? He's still out there, and we can't even warn him, and he probably thinks I _hate_ him, and—"

Astrid raised her hand and placed it on my shoulder. To my surprise, the urge to flinch away did not come.

"He'll be fine," she soothed. "He misses you and he's scared for you, but he's not mad or anything."

"I mean, he _is_ pretty beat up over you being gone," Snotlout grumbled. I winced, and Astrid glared at him.

"And he's sailing right towards Drago's armada," I added. "Even with it moving as fast as it did, he might catch up." I curled up a bit, staring down at my hands. "What if something happens? What if…the last time we saw each other was that horrible argument?"

"Gods, what did you two _say_ to each other?" Snotlout groaned. "Both of you are freaking out over that like it's the end of the world!"

I met their eyes. "He basically…hit me with a reality-check that I didn't want to hear, and I just…" I shrugged and looked away. "I'm _still_ working on it now, so back then, when I was _avoiding_ all of…this," I gestured at all of me, "it was so much worse. I shouldn't have, but I got upset with him. Really upset."

"I get mad at my dad all the time," Snotlout said, waving his hand. "I think it's totally fine."

I pressed my lips together. "I _growled_ at him, Snotlout."

Astrid's eyes widened. Snotlout balked at me.

"I mean, you can talk to them and all, but you _do_ know you're nota dragon anymore, right?" He said.

Astrid whacked him upside the head, sending his helmet sailing. " _Snotlout!_ "

"Ow! What?!"

A small chuckle escaped me, and they both blinked at me with huge eyes. I shook my head with a humorless smile. "It's kinda ironic, because that's exactly what set everything off."

Snotlout grimaced. "Oh. Awkward. Uh…sorry."

"It's…fine," I sighed, closing my eyes and curling against Stormfly. "Or, at least, I'm…working on it. I just hope Dad knows it is, too."

"Guess you'll just have to tell him," Astrid said, settling down next to me so that our shoulders were touching. "And if you're gonna do that, you need to get your strength back up. Those singing dragons are a huge problem, but I'm more worried about Drago catching up to them."

"I'm kinda worried about getting home?" Snotlout admitted. "Like, did anyone write down how to get back?"

"I'm worried about _everything_ ," I mumbled.

I hadn't meant it as a joke, but both of them snickered.

"When _aren't_ you, little cousin?"

 **o.O.o**

It was warm and soft when I came to. So warm, in fact, that I almost tricked myself into thinking I had a blanket. I didn't want it to end so soon, so I clenched my eyes shut and burrowed my head into the grass I was lying on. The quiet of the nest was soothing, and I felt my tired and sore body relax at being able to sleep _just_ a bit more before Toothless decided it was wake-up time.

A soft, contented purr rose in my chest, vibrating through my body. For once in my life, I felt well-rested. I'd forgotten how much of a difference that could make. I was going to make it last as long as I could.

The grass moved.

My eyes snapped open.

I was leaning completely on Astrid, my head nestled in the crook of her neck. Toothless was the "blanket"; he must have woken up, noticed where I'd crashed, gotten jealous, and then plopped right on top of the both of us. He'd even nosed my hands up onto his forehead for good measure, like _he_ could hide under _me._ Snotlout was knocked out where he'd been before, but now half of Toothless' tail was draped over him, because apparently Toothless couldn't bother to _not_ crush my cousin with his weight.

Also, Astrid was very, very awake. A light blush had risen to her cheeks, and she was avidly staring straight ahead. She peeked at me with the corner of her eyes and tried to casually turn towards me.

"Uh…h-hey," she stammered.

" _Gah!_ " I yelped, wrenching upright. "Uh, sorry Astrid, I, uh, I didn't mean to, um…" I suddenly remembered that I'd been _purring_ at her like she was Toothless—and purring _a lot._ My own cheeks turn to fire. "You didn't, uh, hear that, uh, did you…?"

"Uh…I did…actually…" Astrid said, pretending to mess around with her braid so I couldn't see her face.

"Oh. Um. Of course, great. I-I mean, not great—not that I don't—not that you're not—I mean, uh, sorry."

There was some muffled snickering for two whole seconds—and then Toothless began to outright laugh at me. I batted at his nose, which sent him into a sneezing fit. He shot me a dirty look and sat up right away.

" _Well, Hiccup_ l-i-k-e!" He teased. I groaned and put my face in my hands, and he began to poke me with his nose. " _Oh, what? You shy, huh? You nervous? Hic-cup, why aren't you talking, huh?_ "

" _Tooth-_ less!" I whined. With a huff, I batted at him until he gave me some space, sat up straighter, and tried to look at least a _little_ dignified.

Meatlug and Barf and Belch tried and failed to hide their laughter besides us. Hookfang popped his head up into view and glanced around, trying to find what was so funny. Stormfly somehow managed to stay asleep.

"Anyways," both Astrid and I said at the same time. Toothless started making "ooh"ing noises at me, and I feigned a claw-swipe at him.

"Don't worry about it, Hiccup," Astrid said. "If anything, it's kinda cute how—"

Her eyes bugged out, and she very quickly readjusted her position, keeping her face out of sight.

"I, uh, actually have a question! I need to ask you! About Stormfly!"

" _Oooh ho ho!_ " Toothless laughed, having the time of his life tormenting the two of us. To make matters worse, all of us knew that Astrid was _fully_ aware that he was making fun of us. " _Maybe_ Astrid _shy too, huh, Hiccup? What a surprise!_ "

"Are you done yet?" Astrid asked in a flat tone.

" _No!_ " Toothless snorted, shaking his head deliberately. " _This is fun!_ "

" _No more sauce for you when we home_ ," I snipped back at him.

Toothless' laughter came to an abrupt stop, and he stared at me with wide, hurt eyes. " _…that was a joke, yes?_ "

I decided to let him sit on it, pointedly turning to Astrid. "So, uh, what was your question?"

She'd already re-composed herself, although her cheeks were still a little pink. "It's about Stormfly," she said, patting the sleeping yearling. "I've always wondered, is there any reason why she doesn't listen? Like, ever?"

" _Hiccup, was that a joke?_ "

"Stormfly's a yearling," I explained, pretending not to hear my whining brother. "Young dragons always go out of their way to be difficult. They've disobeyed me and Toothless a bunch of times."

Astrid sighed. "But don't they respect older dragons? Does that extend to people, too?"

" _Hiccup, I am serious!_ "

I tried not to smile too much. "Uh, actually…Stormfly thinks you're younger than her."

Astrid scoffed and then realized I was serious. "Wait—what?! Why?"

Toothless began prodding my back, butting into me every couple of seconds. He thumped to the ground and plopped his head on top of mine, nearly crushing me to the ground with his weight.

"She thinks you're a hatchling—a baby, basically," I grunted, holding Toothless up as much as I could. He pushed _down_ , forcing me to put some actual effort into staying upright. "So she thinks—she's gotta—take care of you."

"That's…really sweet, actually," Astrid said with a small smile. She ignored the mini-war between me and Toothless and ran a hand along Stormfly's scales. "Looking back, that explains why she's always so persistent about following me everywhere. And kidnapping me."

"Yup," I groaned. I finally lost the battle, and fell over onto my back with Toothless' upper body pinning me down.

From somewhere off to our right, the Color-Shifter shouted something about being careful.

"Toothless—crushing me—"

" _I am?_ " Toothless said, licking a paw and then running it over his ear. " _So that means…_ "

" _You win_ ," I wheezed.

With a happy chirp, he got up, allowing me to actually breathe. I groaned, holding at my ribs. After actually sleeping and being able to rest, I wasn't as sore as before—but that hadn't made the pain magically go away. It was bearable, though, and I did everything I could to hide it so that Toothless wouldn't notice.

Especially because it had been _ages_ since we'd just had _fun_ , and it was pretty obvious Toothless was being overdramatic for that exact reason.

"It's good to see you two almost back to normal," Astrid said, having noticed as well. She thought for a second, and then rushed, "Uh, sorry, I just mean—you both have been through so much. It's just nice to see that you're still okay, is all."

My smile fell just a bit. Toothless purred, settling beside me.

"Well...we're _not_ completely okay," I admitted. Leaning into Toothless, I said, "But now, we're not cooped in cages, or being tied up and pulled around, or being forced into doing things, and...I don't know…I don't think we should ignore it, but I don't think we should spend _all_ our time mulling it over, either."

" _It is safe here_ ," Toothless put my feelings into words. In more of a grumble, " _Not very hard to feel like that, after_ _being_ there…"

I nodded, realized that Astrid had no way of understanding, and stammered, "Oh—sorry, I forgot—"

"I think I get it," she said. "You need a break. And I totally don't blame you."

She hesitated, and then reached a hand out and set it on my shoulder. With a small smile, I let myself lean into it a little.

"Thank you, Astrid," I said earnestly. "I know I don't say this enough, but…you always seem to be there when either of us need you the most."

She beamed with pride and waved her hand complacently. "It's the least I can do. Don't worry about it, Hiccup."

"But I worry about everything," I said.

She grinned and quirked an eyebrow at me. Toothless huffed and rolled his eyes.

"We helped too, you know!"

All three of us jumped. Ruffnut, Tuffnut, and Snotlout were all shamelessly staring back. Fishlegs was at least _trying_ to act like he wasn't eavesdropping, holding his sketchbook up to his face and peeking just over it.

"Thanks to _all_ of you," I amended. I glanced over at the cliffsides, where Eret was still sitting. With a grunt, I got up to my feet. Pain still ached deep in my heart and abdomen. I winced and wheezed, "I'm gonna go talk to Eret."

Toothless groaned and got to his feet beside me.

"Have fun!" Ruffnut said. "Everyone else has been avoiding him, he's such a downer." She paused, studying him with a finger to her chin. "An _attractive_ downer."

"Be right back, guys," Tuffnut said with a cheery smile. He pointed off to the side and said, "Just gotta go over there and lose my lunch."

"How do we even know we can trust this guy?" Snotlout said, shooting him a distrustful look. "Wasn't he the one who _captured_ you?"

"W-well, yes," I said. "But he's also the one who got us out of there, too."

" _Yes, I did nothing_ ," Toothless griped. " _I'm only here to look pretty._ "

I pawed at him and turned back to everyone. "You guys should rest up while we still can." With a frown, I glanced skywards. "It seems like the song dragons are here to stay."

They all nodded, none of them too ready to come with us.

"We'll be here if you need us," Astrid said.

I nodded. Toothless offered for me to climb up onto his back, but I waved him off. Now that I was well enough to walk again, I _needed_ more than anything to be able to move on my own—not being walked around by someone else, even if that someone was Toothless.

We crept along the indigo ice and emerald grass. I paused, coming to a halt just before reaching him. Unexpected anxiety and fear clamped down on my heart, shooting doubt through me. Whenever Drago had come for me, Eret had always been there, too. Now, in the safety of the nest, I suddenly found it hard to separate the two—even though I was completely aware how different they were. Was Snotlout right? _Could_ we trust him?

Toothless pressed up against me, and I focused on him to relax.

 _Calm down, Hiccup_ , I scolded myself. _We can trust him. We're safe._

Eret didn't react as we eased down a few feet away from him, too focused on staring at the King. The King was sitting in the hot springs with his eyes closed and brows furrowed. The counter-song was a constant, filling the nest with a low ambience.

"…Hey," I said.

Eret grunted. "No need for a pity party, lad," he said in a sullen voice. "What's done is done, after all. Some men just need more time than others."

Toothless perked up, focusing on something behind us. " _Color-Shifter?_ "

I twisted around and tilted my head. The Color-Shifter had approached, standing somewhat awkwardly with wings fluttering and tail twitching. He eyed Eret and then made his way around, settling besides Toothless with a short, nervous greeting.

"So did you actually know the cure?" Eret asked, nodding at the Color-Shifter. I shook my head. "I thought so. A terrible liar, you are. That's why Drago was able to pick at you so much, you know—you made it obvious how to break you down."

My shoulders drooped. "I guess I make it easy."

Eret shook his head with a huff. "You don't have to explain what's going on with you. But I can see there's _something_ holding you down. Drago did, too, and he took advantage of it."

Toothless murmured a question to the Color-Shifter, asking him why he'd come over. From what I could make out of his response, he wanted to know about everything that had happened in the armada—and specifically, what Eret had to do with it.

"I'm really sorry about your men," I said. "I can tell they mean a lot to you. Maybe they got away, or—"

"Now, now," Eret interrupted. "None of that. I'm not going to sit here and trick myself into thinking everything is fine when it's not. Drago knew I organized that escape, and he knew my men." His eyes hardened. "I hate to think what he's done with them. Or worse, what he's _planning_ to do with them. Leave it to Drago to hold hostages and use them to hurt people."

My mind flew back to that cold, shadow-shrouded world—to the consuming darkness, the pain, the fear, the cages, the helplessness. I let my thoughts linger on it before re-focusing on the present. Toothless pushed his head against mine, and I held him close.

"So…" I said. "What now, then? We're stuck here because of all the song dragons—or, the infected dragons. We're pretty sure the source is headed this way, too."

"And let's not forget our friend, Drago," Eret growled. His hands clenched. "I'll fight with you. If my men are still alive, I'll find them, and get them out of there. If anything, I'll do it for the sake of…"

He suddenly put his face in his hands and rubbed at his neck. He tipped his head upwards towards the bleary sky and blinked rapidly, swallowing thickly.

"He was a good crewman, that lad," Eret choked. "Just gettin' the hang of trappin'. Thought of him almost as my own."

My mind flew through the past—to when that young man, just about my age, had stepped in front of Eret and taken the blow for him. To his torturous death, his agonized screams that suddenly cut off.

I lowered my head submissively, just barely keeping a subdued croon from rising from my chest. It was hard _not_ to feel responsible for his loss, even if there was nothing I could have done about it.

"You can come to Berk," I blurted. "You helped us escape, so it's the least we can do."

Eret chuckled. "I'm the one who got you into this mess, and you're offering me asylum?" He finally tore his eyes off the King and met my gaze evenly. "You're a strange little dragon-person, aren't you?"

Toothless hissed an insult, and the Color-Shifter joined in just because he could.

"I'm trying to move forward," I sighed, waving at the two of them to cut it out. "And I'm about as far out of my comfort zone as I can get, so I might as well keep it up. I've been stuck in the past for too long."

" _And I'll be here with you_ ," Toothless said. " _Always._ "

" _What?_ " The Color-Shifter asked.

Eret considered this. After a moment, he gave me a dashing grin. He drew his legs up and rose to his feet.

"You know what, lad? I've had enough of starin' at this Bewilderbeast here." He gestured at everyone from Berk, who were all staring about as rudely as possible and blatantly listening in. "If I'm going to get this job done, I need the advantage of being above. The last thing I need is to rush at Drago's men and get surrounded."

It took me a second to register what he was saying. "Wait—are you saying you want to _fly_ with someone?"

"That's right. That way I can spot my men faster," Eret said. He glanced at the Color-Shifter, who narrowed his eyes and snorted at him, and quickly turned away. "So, which one's the friendliest?"

All at once, everyone—including Toothless and Meatlug—said, " _Stormfly._ "

Poor Stormfly leapt to her feet with a startled squawk. " _What?!_ " She yelped, flaring her wings and whipping her head around. Toothless explained what Eret wanted, and she grinned and puffed up with pride. " _Oh! Okay!_ "

Honestly, it would have been more surprising if Stormfly _wasn't_ fine with it. But her companion, on the other hand…

"Astrid?" I asked. "It's up to you. What do you think?"

She narrowed her eyes at Eret. "I guess…we could use the extra help out there. But just so you know…" She drew her axe and pointed it at Eret, who calmly leaned away and held his palms up. "Hiccup is the forgiving type, but _I'm_ not. If you make me doubt for _one_ second…if you make me think you're going to betray us, or hurt Stormfly, or try to steal her away…"

"Yes, yes, then you give me the boot," Eret finished. "I don't exactly have any alternatives. It's you kids, or Drago."

" _Kids?_ " Snotlout scoffed.

"I also resent that statement," Fishlegs grumbled. Meatlug chuckled.

"So, then," Eret said, sizing Stormfly up with a lot of apprehension for someone who sounded so confident. "How does this work?"

 **o.O.o**

Astrid sure did have an... _unconventional_ way of "teaching" someone how to fly with a dragon.

Stormfly puffed up, snapped her wings open, and took off. With a startled yelp, Eret plopped to the ground. Ruffnut, Tuffnut, and Snotlout burst out with laughter, the latter two adding to their tally of "failed attempts".

"Use your legs!" Fishlegs said. "Or, uh, maybe hold onto her horns?"

"I would suggest _not_ doing that," Astrid said, her arms crossed and her lips pursed.

Toothless snickered. Like Astrid, he was all for petty little revenges, even if it wasn't really exactly helpful right now.

Stormfly fluttered above Eret, shouting playful taunts at him. She _definitely_ thought that we were playing a game of "how fast can you knock the human off of you". A couple of the King's nestmates were watching with interest, the Color-Shifter among them. All of them seemed forlorn, drooping with small, sad smiles.

It took me a moment to realize that Stormfly was probably the first young dragon they had seen in weeks—and a reminder of the young they had lost.

The thought drew me out of my good mood. I frowned, watching Stormfly weave through the air, trying to show off how agile she was to intimidate Eret. It suddenly occurred to me just how vulnerable she and Hookfang were here.

" _Toothless?_ " I asked. " _Can we talk?_ "

He tilted his head and got to his feet. With everyone so focused on watching the rodeo between Stormfly and Eret, it wasn't too hard to slip away. We settled in a small grove a ways away, a low ceiling of ice almost turning it into a hut.

" _What is it?_ " Toothless asked. His voice was apprehensive, and his tail was twitching.

I gave him a soft grin. " _You know._ "

Toothless sat down with a sigh. I settled down next to him, and we both leaned on each other for support.

He wrapped his tail around me and let it settle right in front of us. In the quiet, comfortable silence, I reached out and brushed my fingers across the artificial tailtip-fin.

" _I know_ ," I said. " _I know you think it's not fair._ "

" _Because it_ isn't," Toothless grumbled. " _And you worked so hard and so long on this._ "

" _Yes, but…_ " I kept my hand firmly there and tilted my head to look up at Toothless. " _So did you._ It's a miracle you even made it to Eret's ships, Toothless."

He shrugged. " _I did it once, I can do it again._ "

"I think _preventing_ 'doing it again' is kind-of the goal," I teased him, nudging him with a paw. " _Or do you_ want _to save me again?_ "

Toothless sent me a leer. " _Oh, yes!_ "

"Then you agree with me," I said with a grin.

Toothless snorted and rolled his eyes. " _Hiccup, I'm happy with this. I_ like _it._ "

I allowed my playful smile to fall, growing more serious. Toothless suddenly had a hard time meeting my eye, staring down at the tailtip-fin.

"We almost died back there," I murmured, returning my eyes to it as well. "We really...almost died."

" _We needed more fire_ ," Toothless hummed, trying to lighten the mood. My mouth quirked upright.

"Back when...Dad yelled at us," I said, staring at my hands. "He thought it was stupid to act like there won't be a 'next time'. And he was right, Toothless." I lowered my head with guilt. "There _was_ a 'next time' that I fell off of you, and look where it got us. And there probably will be a bunch more of 'next time's."

Toothless sighed. " _Yes, but...but I don't think this is fair, Hiccup. You worked many, many suns and moons on this._ "

" _I know_ ," I said. "But, Toothless...I made these so that we could be happy. So that we could be whole." I withdrew my hand, looped it through my wingsuit, and pulled a wing open. "For me, there's no easy fix. This is _all_ I can do."

The thought sent a pang of sorrow and frustration through me, threatening to wrap around my thoughts and drag them down a path of confusion and self-hatred.

I sucked in a deep breath and closed my eyes. _No._

It was hard—so, so hard—to pull myself away from those thoughts, from the shadow that controlled them. But I did, even if I did struggle to, even if the shadow did sit contently in the back of my mind, brooding and waiting.

"But for you, Toothless," I went on, "You _do_ have a real fix. And I promise you that healing it won't make me feel worse or...less _me._ " I looked up into his troubled eyes. "I want the best for you, Toothless."

And for a third time in a day, that spark flew through us. It was brief, but filled with confliction, sadness, fear, shame, and guilt.

" _Please, Toothless_ ," I said, holding his eyes and willing _whatever_ it was to stay up just a little longer. " _Please heal your tail._ "

He swallowed, clenching his jaw, his ears pinned. He didn't fight back, but his eyes still had that stubbornness in them.

Toothless turned back to his tailfin, as did I.

" _What is that_ thing? _"_ He asked, referencing the spark we'd just felt.

I reached out and rested a hand on the tailtip-fin, running my fingers along it like it was the last time I would get to see it. " _I don't know_ ," I said. " _It's not my magic. That's still gone._ "

Toothless gave a soft hum. " _I don't know, too. But...I'm happy it is here._ "

Inch by inch, he lifted his paw, reached out with shaking claws...and, finally, let it rest on the tailtip-fin, if only for one last time.

 **o.O.o**

We stayed there for a moment, as if we were saying goodbye to an old friend.

It didn't take long for Toothless to get antsy. He got up, made a nervous comment about hurrying up before he lost his nerve, and trotted out of the grove. I half-ran after him, a huge grin sliding across my lips. It was a struggle to keep from leaping in the air with joy.

We made it back to the others. Stormfly's "game" had amassed the attention of almost the entire nest now, and all of them were clustered around our nestmates, laughing at each of Eret's failed attempts. The Color-Shifter was sitting on the outskirts, a soft frown on his muzzle, eyeing the show in his periphery.

" _Color-Shifter!_ " Toothless said. The Color-Shifter snapped to attention, and Toothless spoke in normal dragon: _we need a favor._

The Color-Shifter tilted his head. Toothless began to stammer, nervous now, still ashamed at his "injustice" towards me. He lowered his head and ears, his tail tucked close to me. I pressed up against him and purred.

" _It is fine_ ," I said.

Toothless sucked in a deep breath. " _With you...it is._ " He straightened up, shook himself off, and lifted his head and tail high. " _Color-Shifter—_ "

The King's counter-song stopped.

I whipped around to face the cliffs. The Color-Shifter let out a sharp whine and flattened himself to the ground. The Four-Wing appeared out of _nowhere_ , rocketing towards him with all four wings. He landed and stood protectively over him, baring his teeth in a silent snarl.

First I saw his crown, an enormous bulk suddenly filling the entire cavern. The King reared up to his full, massive height, his teeth bared and his crown of frills vibrating, blotting out all of the light above. He was looking _down_ , lifting his claws as if to throw his enormous weight down and strike something directly below him in the sea vent.

In the sudden shadows he cast upon us, his icy eyes nearly glowed with rage and horror and fear.

That was the last thing I saw before the nest filled with fog.


	22. Chapter 21

**Hello, everyone!**

 **This one's a long one! I guess that makes up for the late update, right?**

 **So, a miracle happened! I managed to go back through the reviews for the last few chapters and respond to them! I can only respond to reviews of people who are logged in, so I apologize if I was not able to get to yours! But on that note, I'd like to express my gratitude to T-thenightfury, Nacktgranate, FyrandTheGryffinclaw, Samateus-Taal, Logan-The-Roleplayer, Anonymous Noob the 2nd, Laluzi, NightShadow9558, GreatBaitMate, Flopy, CrisDLZ, TheDragon15, TheWhisperingWarrior, Crysist, and all anonymous reviewers for your kinds words! I'd also like to thank my beta Crysist for all your hard work on going over this!**

 **Without further ado, I hope you enjoy this chapter and have a wonderful day! As always, reviews are greatly appreciated!**

* * *

 **Chapter 21**

Astrid

We should have seen it coming.

The fog curled around us, smothering everything from sight—the plants, the ice, the dragons, my friends…Stormfly.

My hand flew to my axe and I hissed a curse between clenched teeth. "Stormfly!" I shouted. "Stormfly, c'mere, girl!"

Everyone else was shouting for their companions. I heard a Night Fury growl, but I couldn't tell if it was Toothless or Hiccup.

Somewhere above, I could hear her squawking in alarm. A shadow flickered just in front of me—and Stormfly blew right past me and back into the mists. A pause, and she stumbled back with wide eyes and flapping wings. She yelped, nipped at my vest, and yanked me towards her. I did as I was "told", struggling to leap up onto her shoulders. She was so nervous that she twisted around and boosted me up with her nose, chirping anxiously.

"Woah! Woah!" Came Eret's voice from nearby. "Wait for me!"

"We're over here!" I shouted, fumbling around for Stormfly's ropes and she spun in tight, panicked circles. "Hurry up!"

Dragons were screeching and snarling now. A massive form shifted the fog around it, sending small drafts of cold curling over my skin and sending goosebumps crawling up it. An enormous tusk slowly drifted through the air far above, trailing fog after it before disappearing once again. A deep rumble vibrated at my ears, just barely perceptible but still painful.

" _Hiccup!_ " I shouted. "Where are you?! What's going on?!"

"Over here!" Came a distant cry. "Stay there!"

Eret stumbled into view, saw me, and drooped with relief. "There you are," he heaved. "Let me on! Quickly, now! This fog is bad news, I tell you!"

He darted towards Stormfly and put his hands on her shoulders, trying to figure out how to hop on. Stormfly tilted her head to look at me, and I nodded at her and patted her side. She stooped down, waited long enough for Eret to clamber on, and then bolted to her feet. Eret nearly toppled over again.

"Can I hold the ropes?" He grumbled. "At this rate, I'll fall off!"

Like _hell_ was I going to give him Stormfly's ropes, so he could yank her around like some dumb pony. "Well, hold on tighter!" I snapped. "Use your legs!"

"Why do you people keep saying that?!"

Hiccup and Toothless burst through the fog, with Hiccup perched effortlessly on Toothless' shoulders. Meatlug and Fishlegs followed suit, then Hookfang and Snotlout, and lastly, Barf and Belch and the twins. A pause, and then two other dragons appeared: the colorful one, and the huge, four-winged orange one that seemed to be its friend.

"The fog is from the source!" Hiccup gasped. "Astrid, Snotlout, Stormfly and Hookfang are too young to risk it—you gotta hide out in the tunnels here, to keep them safe. The rest of us can—"

"What?!" Snotlout said indignantly. "I didn't freeze my ass off to save you just so I could _hide!_ "

"Yeah, not gonna happen," I said, crossing my arms.

"How many times now have we saved your butt again?" Ruffnut mused. "Two? Three?" She studied her fingernails. "Darn, I guess I lost count…"

"We could really use their help," Fishlegs said. "Especially if this thing is as bad as you've made it sound."

Hiccup frowned, considering it, but Toothless firmly shook his head. He said something to Hookfang and Stormfly, and almost immediately, Stormfly began squawking in protest, opening her wings and making herself look as big as possible.

"See?" I said. "Stormfly's gonna go anyways, so…"

There was a sudden onslaught of cold. Another gale of fog swept into the cavern, obscuring everyone from sight. The deep rumbling cut off short in an ear-splitting _roar_ , and there was a loud, distinct _CRASH._

An enormous icicle pounded to the ground right next to us, sending vibrations running through the ground that even I could feel. A shadow off to the side, and I heard another hit the ground with a resounding boom...and another, and another, and—

" _RUN!_ " Hiccup shouted. Toothless screeched, and the other dragons all cried out with him.

The orange dragon burst into view. Half of his body disappeared into the thick fog as he ran past, and at his tail— _literally_ —was the colorful dragon. The colorful dragon had a light hold on his friend's tail, just above where the tailfin started. Stormfly leapt up behind him, snapped at the colorful dragon's tail before it swept out of view, and began to run with them.

I twisted around to try to see past Eret, but the fog was getting so dense that I couldn't even see past the base of Stormfly's tail.

We fled completely blind, ducking and swerving over shattered chunks of ice and stone at the last second. The rumbling from before returned, much more intensely this time. Faint dragon cries echoed, muffled in the clouds. Ice continued to fall, sending sharp pieces of shrapnel flinging into the air. One struck me on my cheek, just below my eye, and I let out a short hiss of pain and held the wound in my palm.

At the front, the orange dragon let out a throaty call. I felt a shift in Stormfly's steps; no longer soft and easy, but with a sharp, unsteady impact. Looking down, I could just barely see hard stone below, the vibrant foliage gone. We ran further into the tunnels, and as we did, it got darker and darker, with nothing but the freezing mist in sight, until that, too, was swallowed in the darkness. Stormfly slowed down and began picking her way through much more carefully. We never stopped, not even for a moment.

Another roar shook the mountain, but it was distant.

"Everyone, steer clear of the song dragons!" Hiccup said, his voice sharp in the muffled dark. "They're the ones that never stop making noise, and all they do is fly around. Stormfly and Hookfang are the most vulnerable."

"I know!" I shouted over my shoulder. "We had to get them out of it when you were gone!"

Hiccup paused, and then gasped, "Wait, w-what?!"

We rounded a corner to see light streaming in from above. The orange dragon called out again. A blurry shadow darted through the mist like a fish in a murky lake. Then a second. Stormfly crouched down and wiggled her rump, chirping excitedly.

"Hold on!" I warned Eret.

He "held on", alright, clamping his arms around my midsection like his life depended on it. My breath left me, and Stormfly launched into the air.

Up, up we went, in the wispy, ethereal fog almost glowing around us. We kept going and going until—

The sudden _blue_ of ice was the first thing I saw.

The second thing I saw was the King of the dragons, standing atop his shell-like nest, his massive teeth bared in a terrifying snarl and his eyes focused on something behind us. He was making that sound again, and his wild dragons were hovering close to him.

Stormfly squawked triumphantly, did a twirl just for the fun of it, and then suddenly stopped when Eret and I shouted in alarm. She glanced over her shoulder at us, chirped, and evened out into a hover just beside the two wild dragons that had lead us.

Everyone else followed—except Toothless and Hiccup. The second they burst from the fog tunnels, Toothless teetered off to the side and made a rough landing on some ice. From there, they leapt from spire to spire, so quickly that it only took them a few seconds to get just below us and close to the dragon King.

Fog was spewing out from beneath the dragon King and out of gaps in the nest, writhing into the air like a cold fire. I didn't even _want_ to know what could have possibly intimidated a dragon like _him_ so much.

I turned around, and got my answer anyways.

Fog absolutely coated the sky. Dragons flying in aimless patterns had formed a thick sheet around the nest, blocking all escape from it. I could just barely hear the sounds they were making—the "song" that Hiccup had warned us about. Even though their flock was enormous, they kept a huge distance from us; there seemed to be a pocket of safety, a "bubble" around the thrumming King dragon that they strictly flew outside of.

And out at sea was a city of metal, a fleet of shadows, an imposing darkness stretched across the horizon: Drago's armada.

From this high up, I could see the wake it left behind. Just like Eret's ships, they were using sea dragons tied up in chains, whipping them to get them to swim at top speed across the waters. The biggest ship had the largest wake, and just beneath the waters, I could see _something_ moving along, pulling chains the width of full-grown trees.

Whatever it was, it was huge. I _really_ did not want to deal with it.

But at the rate it was moving, it would take them less than ten minutes to make landfall.

" _Shit!_ " Tuffnut shouted.

"Oh, great," Eret groaned. "How am I going to find my men if I can't even _get_ to the armada?"

I leaned over Stormfly's shoulder and shouted, "Hiccup, what's the plan?"

He and Toothless exchanged a wide-eyed look. They turned toward the humming King, and he tilted his head to share the glance.

"Whatever the source is, it isn't doing anything yet!" Hiccup shouted. "We gotta protect ourselves from Drago while we still can! Get out of the way!"

The King reared high, high into the air, his crown disappearing into the fog above.

All of the dragons scattered, Stormfly included. I pressed close to her, my knuckles white around the rope, and Eret clamped on and nearly suffocated me.

The King waited, sucked in a deep breath, spread enormous frills at his sides—and shot rays of _ice_ into the ocean. They erupted into foam, the water shooting up dozens of feet on impact. The King turned his head in a semicircle around his nest, and as he did so, the ice built up around it in an enormous, jagged wall, all of the points facing outwards at the incoming storm. The wall was easily dozens of feet tall—just a little shorter than the bird's nests on the armada.

There was a brief moment as he spewed his ice. It seemed to curl around something solid in the waters, and I almost swore I heard a muffled cry. The singing dragons flew more erratically for a brief second. But then it passed, just as quickly as it had come, and there was no time to worry about it.

Because catapults were being lit on Drago's armada.

"Incoming!" Fishlegs screeched.

The catapults let loose their loads. The first skirted just over the wall and _exploded_ at the base of the mountain. The second aimed a little too low, smashing against the ice. The third went high enough to hit the midsection of the ice palace.

Hiccup growled something in dragon below. Toothless hissed and nodded.

"Let's go get 'em!" Snotlout shouted, lifting his hammer high into the air. "C'mon, Hookie! Let's show them who's the boss dragon!"

" _No!_ " Hiccup commanded. "The second you fly out into those song dragons, Hookfang will be taken over!"

More catapults pelted the mountain. The King roared a challenge, leaned forward, and swiped his enormous paw at them at shocking speed. A few spattered across the ocean, where they skipped along it like giant pebbles.

"We can't just sit here and wait!" I shouted. "What can we do?!"

Hiccup glanced up at the King, seemingly lost in thought, and suddenly jolted upright towards us. He let out a sharp cry, and all of our dragons snapped to attention to him. He began to growl and croon at them, throwing his head first towards the King, and then the song dragons. His dragon-sounds fell away into the humming the King never relented—and then he chirped at them, pawing at the air in a "go on" motion.

Toothless thrummed. The other dragons repeated him, shifting and adjusting their pitch and rhythm until they were almost completely in-sync with him. Stormfly was so loud she vibrated beneath me, slightly off-key but still giving it her all.

A song dragon strayed too close and suddenly fluttered. Then it stabilized itself, skirting away at a slow, lazy pace.

"Well, I'll be damned," Eret murmured.

Toothless snorted, pounding a claw into the ice and whipping his tail. Hiccup lifted his head and cried out to the dragon King.

The dragon King's eyes widened. The dragons huddling close to him squawked and flew in tight, anxious circles—they clearly wanted to protect their nest, but knew better to fly out where they were vulnerable. Yet now they watched with interest.

Little by little, the dragons began to imitate the King dragon. Little by little, the slow hurricane of song dragons widened their girth.

Five minutes to landfall.

Toothless let out a sharp cry. The orange dragon and colorful dragon took it up, and suddenly surged straight towards the song dragons. A chunk of the dragon surrounding the King joined in, diving in a huge, singing pod.

They hit the song dragons, faltered, and wheeled around. Toothless and Hiccup both cried out to them, their voices blending together into one.

Stormfly clucked, and with a yowl, she sprang forward.

"Woah!" I gasped. "Stormfly, _no!_ It's dangerous for you! _Stormfly!_ "

Stormfly was diving for them—and judging by the screams I was hearing behind us, so were the rest of our dragons. I risked a glance over my shoulder to see our friends and the rest of the King's nest descending with us, all of them frantically crying out that strange, song-like sound.

In moments, we hit the song dragons. The world erupted into chaos.

The King's wild dragons all packed together, shouting their hearts out. Stormfly joined in very enthusiastically and also slightly out-of-tune. The song dragons swirled around us.

…and then began to waver midair, flying erratically this way and that.

The King dragon briefly stopped his own song to roar a command. Then he picked it up—and so did his wild dragons, crying out for all they were worth.

The song dragons fluttered wildly, their song high and keening, and eventually meandered far, far out from the nest. A gap opened, a doorway to war below.

One minute until landfall.

The wild dragons lunged for the armada, and Stormfly joined with them.

The men on the armada let loose battle cries.

Fire and nets and catapults and darts and screams filled the air.

"Wo-oah!" I cried, holding on for all I was worth. Stormfly whipped around a net with ease, swooping over the ice barrier and shooting a fireball at a ship. I pulled up as hard as I could, and she swerved skywards just before another net launched directly into us. We shot straight up into the air, towards the scattered and confused song dragons, and Stormfly opened her wings and let us slow to a stop.

 _Hundreds_ of feet into the air.

We dropped, and she spun and turned it into one hell of a dive. Eret held onto me so tight, I was sure my ribs would be bruised.

" _Control your dragon!_ " he screamed.

"Stormfly!" I scolded her, tugging at her crown. She tilted her head to meet my eye, huffed as loud as she could, and snapped her wings open. We swooped over the ice barrier and began speeding along it. On our right, the ice nest, with the King standing like a living mountain and song dragons swarming around him in disorganized patterns. On our left, the armada, full of scrambling men and war machines. Dragons swerved in and out of each side, charging over the line, striking, and then ducking behind the wall of safety.

The sun blinked out—and then Hookfang and a very singed Snotlout fell into place next to us.

"What the hell is going on?!" Snotlout cried.

"Apparently we're fighting an entire armada!" I said. "By _ourselves!_ "

"Oh, great!" Snotlout moaned. He put on a brave face. "Well, it's a good thing we got that enormous dragon on our side! That evens it out, right?"

"I wouldn't count on that!" Eret shouted. He was craning his neck towards the armada, even leaning a bit off Stormfly to get a better look. His eyes darted back and forth, but he didn't seem to find what he was looking for. "We better get higher and get out of range!"

Right on cue, a dragon in front of us let out a shriek, its midsection pierced through with several arrows. It plummeted into the ocean.

Stormfly pulled up into a halt. She stared, eyes wide, at the wild dragon that had fallen into the ocean. It was flapping wildly, whining and keening, its eyes huge and wild and its paws flailing.

The ocean suddenly frothed around it. The dragon gave a pained wail—and was then sucked underwater. The ocean turned crimson.

Stormfly watched all of this, hovering in place, leaving us wide open.

"Stormfly!" I cried, pushing my weight to the right as far as I could go. "Stormfly! C'mon! It's okay, girl! It's okay!"

"Get her _moving!_ " Eret said, just as panicked.

"Hookfang, c'mon!" Snotlout shouted, struggling to get _his_ own dragon to move, too.

Hiccup had said she was a yearling—a dragon only one year old. She was just a little kid.

She had never seen war.

"Stormfly!" I said quieter now, wrapping my arms around her neck. "It's okay! C'mon, girl! We gotta move!"

Stormfly blinked, shook her head, and jolted with a startled squawk.

A net launched directly at us.

" _Stormfly!_ "

"Look out!"

There was a burst of fire—and the twins and Barf and Belch burned through the net, Meatlug and Fishlegs right behind them. Meatlug snarled at us, and with two high-pitched whimpers, Stormfly and Hookfang followed after them.

We rose, higher and higher, until we were just a little too close to the song dragons for comfort. They were still whorling above, still disorganized from the surge of wild dragons, still mindlessly cycling the nest as they had been for hours.

And below, the wild dragons were fighting a losing battle.

Had this nest been as big as Hiccup said it used to be, then they might have had a chance. But with each passing second that went by, I saw more and more dragons plummet within nets, struck down by darts, snatched up in snapping-traps.

"Where are Hiccup and Toothless?!" Fishlegs voiced my own thoughts.

"I don't know!" I shouted, casting furtive glances below.

"Well, we better find them soon!" Ruffnut shouted. "Things aren't exactly looking up for us!"

I searched below in desperation, but it was too confusing, too chaotic, too loud. There were hundreds of song dragons doing their thing above, and the King dragon was responding in kind with his own enormous voice. The wild dragons screeched, the men responded in kind with battle cries. The blaze of fire mixed with the constant sound of catapults unloading and metal clanging. Every pocket of open space either had a dragon, fire, a net, or a weapon of some sort in it.

The sound of a Night Fury's strike would easily be lost in all this. A _Night Fury_ could easily be lost in all of this, when his tail was handicapped.

"Where are they?!" I whispered. "We can't lose them now!"

"I could say the same thing," Eret growled, peering down at the armada with desperate intensity. "C'mon, lads, you're better than this! I know you're—" He gasped and lunged forward, clamping one hand way too tight on my shoulder. " _THERE!_ "

It took me a second to figure out where he was pointing. Just in the shadows, someone slipped out of sight.

"Uh, where?" Snotlout drawled. "All I see are dragon trappers. Which reminds me…why are we flying near _dragon trappers?!_ "

"I saw them! They're there, they're hiding from Drago!" Eret said, pulling as far down as he could. "We have to help them!"

Barf and Belch let out two shrieks. All of our dragons flung themselves in different directions.

A flaming stone rocketed past us, arched high, and landed directly on the King's leg in a blooming explosion. The enormous dragon narrowed his eyes, leaned his head down, and blew a puff of ice over the searing, smoking wound left behind.

The King lifted himself up again, spreading those frills across his back. He spared precious seconds to let loose another roar. The wild dragons spun on their tails and fled back to him.

Almost directly below, a _human_ roared back.

"What the hell?!" Ruffnut gasped.

"Is that…?" Fishlegs asked.

I swallowed. I had never met him, nor seen, him, and still I knew. "…Drago Bludvist."

The ocean erupted.

Freezing water rained on us in such a heavy bout that we were completely soaked. Foam sprayed up over us, shooting high into the air in a sudden, dense mist. Another loud, booming call joined the fray.

Amber-gold eyes the size of men opened mere feet away from us. The water still rained down around them, concealing the dragon they belonged to all but for that brilliant, sun-like, almost _glowing_ gaze…that settled directly on us.

" _FLY!_ " I bellowed. "Fly, Stormfly!"

With startled and terrified shrieks, Stormfly and the others poured on the speed. Meatlug spun around, flew backwards, and spat a fireball at the dragon, Fishlegs screaming on her back the entire time. Barf and Belch held up the rear, his eyes locked on the behemoth behind us, keeping Hookfang and Stormfly firmly in front of him.

Drago's captive rose from the mists, revealing itself to be a dragon just like the King. Its scales were gray-black and marred with hundreds of scars and open wounds, and its frills on its sides sagged and had holes in them. Thick chains dangled from its tusks, although they had been unlatched a couple dozen feet off their connecting point by some unseen switch. It was smaller than the King, but only barely.

Meatlug's fireball hit it, and it winced away and settled a haunting gaze on us. Something about its eyes was off—it had a wavering focus, almost, like it was exhausted and half-asleep.

Drago shouted his bidding, _"KILL THEM!_ "

The dragon hesitated just long enough for my heart to lift.

Then it reared up on its hind legs, fanned its deteriorating frills, and blotted the sky with shadows.

It launched ice directly at us, and the world lit up in a white explosion.

 **o.O.o**

Toothless

The King's nestmates burst through the song dragons. Through their collective effort, they had just _barely_ been able to be loud enough to drown out the song, allowing safe passage. Had they been a few dragons short, then _all_ of them would have been lost.

There were too many song dragons. We had limited time. With the King's nestmates no longer singing, only he was left to block it out with the counter-song. It was now or never.

I swallowed and craned my head up to look at the King. My stomach was roiling with nausea and my legs were shaking.

Hiccup purred, hugging me as tight as he could. " _It is fine, Toothless_ ," he murmured. " _It is fine._ " He waited a moment, and then lifted his head and hailed, " _King!_ "

The King's old and weary eyes were locked on his nestmates. He barely tilted his head towards us, and his tusk came close enough for me to leap upon it. Hiccup scrambled off of my back, keeping one paw on me for comfort and reaching out to my tail with the other.

… _yes?_ The King asked, his "voice" strained. _My apologies…Saviors…my concentration can only be stretched so thin._

My throat suddenly seemed thick, my tongue too floppy to speak. Hot bursts of anxiety were zipping through my limbs, making me flutter my wings and flick my tail. Hiccup quickly clamped a paw down on my tailtip, and with his free paw, he tugged me close to him.

"We…" I began, my voice shamefully high and timid.

Hiccup finished removing the artificial talitip-fin. He placed it tenderly besides me and reached towards me, holding my head close to his and purring.

"…we need your help," I finished.

The King glanced down. His eyes flicked to my tail, and I felt a sudden urge to hide it, like the sight of it was shameful, that our request was taboo.

His voice came quietly, almost like a sigh, …s _uch a sad sight, for a dragon so young…I will do what I can._ He heaved, closing his eyes. His counter-song quieted just a fraction, and his "voice" became clear and crisp. _Perhaps this may right some of the wrong I have harmed you, even if by only a little. It is all I can give._

 _Lie down and lay your tailfin flat out._

My limbs suddenly locked. With stiff movements, I managed to settle down on the King's tusk. Hiccup lied down with me, holding me close. I wrapped my tail around him, letting its tip settle just in reaching distance.

Regret and shame flung through me, almost making me leap to my feet and call off the King. I grit my teeth, squeezing my eyes shut.

I forced myself to remember every single time my stubbornness had caused us suffering: every single time I had been unable to save Hiccup because I had refused to let the past go. Hiccup, snatched away during that second raid. The floating-trees, freedom just within sight. The shadow-man's nest, escaping only through dumb luck and the disobedience of a persistent yearling and her equally-persistent human.

Three times. Three disasters that could have been avoided.

It was time to move forward, no matter how painful it was. It was like a blow to my heart, to my very core. I had always been one to follow my values, because for so many years, they were _all_ that I had. Now I had to face the fact that they had shrouded my vision, and we had suffered immense consequences from them.

For Hiccup, I could do it. For our nestmates. For the humans of Berk, for the human King.

…for the King before us and his nestmates, who so desperately needed us.

The thundering of my heart drowned out the King's warning. Hiccups' paws tightened on me.

 _Fire._

A strangled scream crept past my clenched teeth. My limbs jerked involuntarily, as if lightning had struck me down, leaving me seizing and helpless in the dirt.

This was not the sharp and searing pain of abused soulfire, but a slow inferno curling through my blood, my muscles, my bones. It trickled at a torturously slow pace, like acid creeping along every single scale, every fiber, every _inch_ of me, cherishing its slow punishment for my foolhardiness.

I buried my nose into Hiccup's chest as the pain flared, as I felt bones shifting, muscles rebuilding, all open and exposed and stinging in the freezing air around us. The sound of crackling muscles and bones and tendons—like small twigs snapped underfoot—made the pain all the more focused on my mind, all the more real.

A high pitched wheeze escaped me, until the trauma became so intense that I lost my breath.

Yet, in that moment—amidst the horrifying, visceral sound of a limb ripping itself out of my body—I found comfort.

" _It is fine,_ " Hiccup was saying repeatedly, his voice high and shuddering with pain—pain for _me_. " _It is fine, it is fine, it is fine…_ "

I clamped my jaw shut, refusing to let not even a squeak slip past my lips. With all my concentration, I flung all thoughts aside and only focused on Hiccup, on his voice, on his comforting scent, on the warmth he offered me in a world of ice.

I bore through the agony with Hiccup at my side.

My thoughts began to scramble, the pain was so intense. Sparks flew across my blackened vision. My ears rang as if I'd been struck in the head. Hiccup was all there was, all that kept me clinging to consciousness.

And then it was gone.

I lied there, shaking and heaving, with Hiccup holding me and murmuring in my ear. My limbs were rattling violently and sore, and each labored breath sent a small spike of pain through my ribs.

 _Open your eyes, Saviors_ , the King's gentle voice filled my mind. _All is not lost now._

I cracked my eyes open, still breathless, still wincing at the lingering pain. Hiccup let out a choked cry, snapping a paw out.

His paws brushed first against my right tailtip-fin…and then my left.

" _Your tail!_ " He sobbed, trembling with relief and joy, his paws fluttering over it as if afraid it would disintegrate if he touched it. " _Your tail! Your—your tail!_ "

I lifted my head and stared at it, still struggling to catch my breath. I had expected the sight, and still it was shock. To see my tail complete, with Hiccup in his unwanted human form besides it.

Almost methodically, I flicked it open and closed. There was no delay, no pain associated with the movement, no stiffness in the joints. The only indication that it was not my original tailtip-fin was a slightly lighter shade of the scales, as if that part of my body was older, wiser even.

Hiccup turned to me, scrubbed at his eyes before any tears fell, and beamed.

I lunged at him, and he to me, and we held each other close.

" _Thank you_ ," I said, although I wasn't quite sure what for. My throat welled up again, and with a shuddering voice, I said, " _Us still fly together. Always._ "

Hiccup chuckled and nodded. We separated, and he leapt upon my shoulders as I pulled myself to my feet.

As one, the two of us looked to the King and said, " _Thank you._ "

The King smiled. He reared up, boosting us into the open sky. "Fly, Saviors!"

I opened my wings and spread my tailfins out.

Just before taking off, I glanced over my shoulder at Hiccup. Our eyes met. An unspoken plea for permission passed from me to him—one final check to make sure this was _really_ alright, that this was the right thing to do, that I had not done my brother great injustice.

The spark burst between us, filled with love.

He smiled. It was weary and exhausted, but it was real.

With a single thrust of my wings, we went rocketing into the air just as something exploded against the King's hide.

I had almost grown accustomed to the wind being my enemy, blocking my every move, making it feel as though I was trying to slog through thick mud instead of smooth, free air. Now it invited me back into its midst, supporting us effortlessly, guiding us through every wayward gust.

I evened out far above the throng of song dragons, barely skimming at the fog cover coating the sky. I teetered us back and forth, awed at how easy the movements came—how something that had just been impossible and suicidal was now as simple as a flick of my tail.

" _We're…we're flying,_ "I breathed, turning around and checking my tail just to make sure the tailfin was truly there.

" _We're flying!_ " Hiccup whooped with joy.

I turned back to the battlefield below. The shadow-nest was just reaching the King's ice shield, and the northern dragons were struggling to keep it at bay.

From up here, I could see the shadow-human—and he, too, was staring directly up at us. I could not see his expression, but I could almost feel the burning sting of his hatred and madness.

I wrinkled my nose and bared my teeth. " _And now, us_ win."

Hiccup pressed close, holding tight with his legs and front paws. I pulled my wings into a dive.

At that very moment, the King roared, " _My nestmates, return to me!_ "

The wind pounded at my ears. I squinted, gritting my teeth against the wind, and shot directly through the pod of song dragons uninterrupted.

And the ocean bulged and _exploded_.

The young King lifted himself from the ocean, panting from exertion. A curtain of seawater fell around him, obscuring his form, hiding all but his tusks and eyes from view. A bright speck of fire launched directly into his chest, and despite it being a fraction his size, he still flinched with fear. He glanced down, baring his teeth at—

"Astrid!" Hiccup cried.

The shadow-human screamed an order. The young King sucked in a breath and sent a rain of ice below.

I spat a fireball at it just above our nestmates, swerving in a tight turn just overhead. The ice shattered, raining sharp pebbles in every direction.

"Our nestmates!" I cried. " _To us!_ "

All of them gaped. Then, " _UNDERSTOOD!_ "

The young King's tusks swung into my periphery. I spiraled around it and spat over my shoulder, "Why do you fight for him?!"

" _Us friends!_ " Hiccup shouted.

The young King seemed to be having trouble understanding. He peered at us, his brows knitted and mouth slightly parted. He blinked and shook his head.

"YOU?" He cried, his voice so booming that I swerved to and fro, momentarily disorientated.

"Ow," Hiccup hissed.

The young King took a wary step forward. Our nestmates formed a flare around us, and we all took off back towards the nest, desperate to spare ourselves from being directly within his shooting range.

"Hiccup?!" Astrid gasped. "You're—Toothless is—"

"Oh, _hell_ yeah!" Snotlout cheered. "Now we're really gonna kick some ass!"

"How about we _save_ our asses first!" 'Ruffnut' said.

We were nearing the curtain of song dragons now. By this point, they had reformed their mass, uncaring of the battle raging on around them, of the massive Kings flanking them on both ends. Some of the King's nestmates had made it back safely, but some were trapped outside of it, flying as far away as they dared but unwilling to approach.

To get to the nest, we would have to fly through them.

The counter-song seemed only to work with large numbers of dragons singing it. But if we were fast enough, if we were loud enough…

"Everyone, sing the counter-song!" I commanded.

"Cover their ears!" Hiccup added to our human counterparts.

All of us, Hiccup included, took up the counter-song. Hiccup wrapped his paws around my ears and side-frills, leaning his full weight into it to muffle out as much as he could. The other humans attempted to do the same with varying results, some of them clearly having no idea where their nestmates' ears _were_.

I glanced behind me to see the young King following us with more confident steps, with more awareness in his eyes…with the shadow-man standing on one of the few platforms rising above the ice, placing a paw upon his tusk…

…and using his claw-stick to point directly at us.

The monster bellowed a command, and this time, the young King did not hesitate. He swung his great head from side to side, shattering the protective wall of ice in one swing. The humans of the shadow-nest advanced immediately, swarming onto the beaches and armed with colorful woodclaws and net-throwing contraptions.

The young King opened his maw wide, filled his body with air—

The King's counter-song disappeared, followed quickly by, "STOP!"

The young King paused and stared, as if only just now realizing the elder standing tall before him. His eyes widened, and he tipped his head. "YOU?" he asked, sending my ears ringing.

The King set him with a hard look, thrumming with the counter-song.

He took one step down the mountain. Then another. Then another. The song dragons scattered from his song, and his nestmates swarmed behind him, hissing and spitting. The humans of the shadow-nest pelted him with explosive stones and woodclaws, but he didn't even glance down at them, his eyes boring into his kin.

I pulled us into a hover and risked a glance at the shadow-man. He was fixated on the King, a mad, crooked grin splitting his face in two. His eyes were hungry, his body posture relaxed and dominant.

My stomach sank when I realized what exactly was about to happen.

"We have to stop this," Hiccup murmured to me.

" _I hope so_ ," I growled. To our nestmates, I shouted over my shoulder, "We're falling back! Be ready to dodge him at any moment!"

With a steady flap of my wings, I lead us higher and out of range while both monster and young King were distracted. Once safe, all of us drew into hovers, just above the two Kings' crowns, the song dragons behind us, the shadow-nest stretching in front of us.

The elder King could not speak, protecting us all from the song. Hiccup and I would take his place.

" _Hello!_ " I shouted down at the young King, grabbing his attention for a precious moment. "Do not fight us! We are your allies!"

He blinked, uncomprehending.

" _Us friends!_ " Hiccup shouted again. Louder, with more emphasis, "Friends!"

"Yeah!" Stormfly piped up. "We can be friends! I'll be your friend!"

"I won't!" Hookfang yelped.

There it was again—that surprised look, confused and uncertain.

The young King flitted his eyes between us and his elder with rising confusion. "HOW!" He roared. He swung his great head down, down...and then, in a clear plea for guidance, he begged the shadow-human, "ALWAYS-THERE?"

"Why…why is he not… _talking_ right?" Hiccup murmured.

The shadow-man glanced at us, close enough now to easily discern his expression. He looked to us with rage and bloodlust—and then to the King behind us, protecting us, protecting our nestmates, protecting his nestmates, keeping the song dragons at bay.

His dark eyes glinted, calculating, searching for weakness. He grinned.

" _FIGHT!_ " he roared, throwing his claw-stick at the elder King.

" _NO!_ " Hiccup cried.

The young King reared up, shrieking a battle cry. The elder King met it and surged forward, coming in from below and throwing his body upwards.

He could have done it, right then. The young King clearly had no experience, raising himself up like that, leaving his belly exposed. It would have been a matter of gouging him with heavy tusks, ripping that soft tissue open to let the blood and entrails splatter to the rocks below. He would have lost his life before the battle even started.

But the elder King, soft-spoken and aged and weary, showed him mercy.

He hooked the young King's tusks in his own, still humming the counter-song, and twisted them both to the side. The young King went crashing down onto the beach and an enormous portion of the shadow-nest, crushing the metal floating-trees and all those upon them.

"NO!" The young King whimpered, flailing his claws and tusks and forcing a hasty retreat from his elder. He scrambled to his feet, frills hanging limp and head bowed, and whipped his tail. "ALWAYS-THERE, HELP!"

He charged the elder King. The elder braced himself, readying his tusks and plunging his claws into the beach. The humans of the shadow-nest still assaulted him, but now their weapons were doing less harm—he was using his magic to strengthen his hide, just as the Queen had when we had taken her down.

If the King was distracted from his song, though, it would be over. The song would swoop over the island, taking all of his nestmates—all of _us_ —with it.

"Follow my lead!" I snarled. I swooped down after the young King, keeping us just above his crown. Filling my throat with gas, I flung a fireball just ahead of him and off to his left. Our nestmates joined in, raining fireballs upon him.

The young King swerved away with a gasp, his eyes wide and afraid. It left enough of an opening for the elder to lunge at him, knocking his tusks aside and swiping with both paws. The young King was thrown onto his side, kicking up enormous bouts of water at the ice-cold beach. From below, he narrowed his eyes and spat ice wildly up into the air.

I swooped around a stray bit, Hiccup clinging tight to my neck. Our nestmates and their humans gave varying shouts of alarm as they, too, avoided ice chunks twice their size.

A human scream made me snap my head below.

" _Help!_ " 'Eret' squealed, throwing useless paws out as he fell, _fell_ , too far below, too close to the shadow-nest full of nets, too—

He suddenly stopped midair, seemingly levitating in place with a loud, " _OOF!_ "

The Color-Shifter materialized beneath him, leered over his shoulder, and cried, "And now we are even!"

They zipped up towards us and the Kings, and bursting from the crowds came the Four-Wing, holding up their rear. By then, the young King had already risen to his feet and shook himself off, readying another reckless charge. I glanced up at Hiccup for ideas.

He wasn't even looking at the Kings. He was staring almost completely off to the side, out at the shadow-nest. We were close to it, close enough that we were level with the tallest peaks of the floating-trees.

The shadow-man, standing atop one of those peeks, only a few wingbeats away, stretched his paws out in a beckoning, welcoming gesture at us.

"Come along, dragon-boy," he shouted over the commotion in his dragon-like voice. He bared his teeth in a wide smile. "You will not win! Come back to where you belong, and spare the lives of all these dragons!"

Right on cue, the young King charged the old. Our nestmates and the King's rained fire down on him, but this time, he squeezed his eyes shut and pounded blindly across the beach, sending small earthquakes through the earth with each heavy footstep, uncaring of the members of the shadow-nest crushed underfoot.

I fluttered further away from the shadow-human, my heart hammering, a strike of fear plunging through my limbs. Gas flew into my throat. Hiccup pressed closer to me with a soft hiss.

" _No_ ," we both whispered.

The two Kings crashed together, tusk cracking against tusk in enormous booms. The shadow-human kept his eyes on us.

There was a subtle movement of his paw. Hiccup screeched a warning, and I flung myself to the side just as a net was thrown from below, my charging fire leaving me.

We fled from the shadow-man, feeling his terrible stare on our backs. It was an act of pure cowardice, to turn tail and _run_ from a creature that had wounded us so deeply.

But neither of us were quite ready to face him, not now. Not when all of these dragons needed us, not when we had only _just_ escaped from his claws, not when he still seemed to always be one step ahead of us, not when he used the skin of a Shadow-Blender to protect himself from my fire.

I took us up and over the raging Kings, just above our breathless nestmates. Lingering fear made me check over my shoulder as though he were right behind us, like he could simply reach up and pluck us out of the sky with his claws, trapping us in his dark and cold cages forever.

"Very well, then!" the monster's laugh drifted from below. To his nestmates, he roared an order, "Take the infected dragons down! _All_ of them!"

" _No!_ " Hiccup and I gasped.

Movement flickered all over the beach as wood and metal groaned and clanged. War contraptions were steadied upwards. There was no need to aim.

Beneath the foggy sky, dozens of song dragons were struck and speared and crushed by the monster's bidding. The two Kings still struggled, tusks locked, stepping from foot to foot in a slow circle with swinging tails. Yet the old King saw what had happened, and his counter-song skipped for just a moment from the horror of it.

It occurred to me that many of these song dragons may have been part of his nest, once.

That some of them, even if I could not find them in the chaotic masses, were _our_ missing nestmates.

" _No!_ " I breathed again, my heart frozen with horror, as nets swarmed into the air like a plague of nestmates. I swung us up, back towards our nestmates still struggling to distract the King. They, too, had pulled into hovers, gaping down at the bloodbath below.

"Our nestmates!" the Color-Shifter wailed, driving my fears into reality. "Those are our nestmates! Our young!"

"I'll kill them all!" his Four-Wing screeched, but the fierceness of his rage was dimmed by the fear tightening his voice.

" _Guys!_ " Hiccup cried, his voice shrill. "We gotta stop them!"

"On it!" Astrid shouted. Pointing her paw, she said, "C'mon, Stormfly!"

With fierce cries, they dove, the King's dragons following. I spared a moment to watch them send their fire onto the humans below. The Color-Shifter joined them, as did the Four-Wing, as did dozens of other dragons.

The elder King let out a sharp yelp, and I whipped back towards him.

In the distraction of seeing his own felled, the young King had found an opening. Now his tusks were locked firmly around the old King's neck, pulling him up into the air.

"YOU!" the young King said. With almost breathless, excited wonder, "SUBMIT!"

The elder bared his teeth, never relenting in his song. He pressed his tail into the ground, holding himself upright, fighting for all he was worth to keep from toppling over. The young King shoved forward, forward.

I swung over them and sent a weak fireblast directly in front of the young King's eyes. He let out a frightened screech—and threw his tusks to the side.

The movement normally would have snapped the neck of his opponent. Instead, the elder twisted his body with the young King, letting himself go limp to lessen the impact of hitting the ground. He let out a pained scream nonetheless, and a sharp _CRACK_ filled the air as his shoulder impacted. His front paw snapped at an unnatural angle as his weight fell upon it, crippling him.

With a curse, I pumped my wings and darted in front of the young King, readying more fire, desperate to gain his attention for a moment.

" _Friends!_ " Hiccup shouted at him. " _Us friends! Please stop!_ "

The young King bared his teeth at us. "SUBMIT!" He screeched again, his voice eager and rushed. "ALWAYS-THERE WANT!"

He sprayed his ice, twisting his head just as his elder had moments ago, filling all of the air with it. It took up the entire sky before us, thousands of ice shards charging directly at us.

"No!" I shrieked, dipping and spiraling, desperate to—

Ice struck my tailfins, snatching me from the air and dragging me down. Hiccup was thrown from my shoulders.

" _Toothless!_ " he cried. He curled up and then snapped his wings open, swerving away from both Kings and towards me as best as he could. He tucked his wings in, diving for me—but there was nothing he could do!

No matter how hard I flapped, the ice had done its damage, crippling my tail and throwing me down! I spun and spun—I saw the ground—I flung my wings wide open as I smashed into the bloodied beach amongst the humans of the shadow-nest—

I leapt to my feet, raised my wings, and snarled at them all, whipping my head back and forth. Using the ice at my tailtip to my advantage, I swung it about, smacking its hard edges into any human that drew near.

The Color-Shifter zoomed overhead, 'Eret' clinging to his neck and scanning the masses. He sent a beam of fire upon the humans, scattering them. Behind me, Hookfang did the same, Snotlout whooping with vigor and shouting insults. Astrid and Stormfly were targeting the war contraptions, and the two look-alikes and Barf-and-Belch were lighting long plumes of gas besides them.

The whole beach was alive with smoke and fire, the inferno almost obscuring all the scattering humans and dragons. The ground shook violently with each step one of the Kings took, and still the shadow-nest advanced, desperate for its prize. Several of the King's nestmates had been wrapped up in nets, wailing for aid that could not be given.

Hiccup was going to land in all of this—and he had no fire, no teeth, no claws—!

I whipped my head up just in time to see him yank his wings back, throw his feet down, and stumble into a rough landing right beside me. He fell against my shoulders, out of breath—and then he faced the humans surrounding us, flared his wings, and _roared_.

Several humans backed away, eyes wide and skin pale. They turned and ran.

I smirked, straightening up. "Well, that was easy—"

A shadow rushed over us.

Hiccup and I spun around.

The young King raised himself up, pulling his tusks back to sweep them over us and crush us.

"SUBMIT!" He said. "ALWAYS-THERE WANT!"

He paused, his eyes boring into ours, waiting for an answer.

"No!" I shouted up at him. "We will not submit to a _monster!_ We are Kings!"

The young King met my eyes, and I bared my teeth at him.

The young King had incredibly strong magic—magic he did not seem to understand. Like the old King, it was so grand that he could utilize it almost as the Queen used her magic to control other dragons. How he had managed to use it through vibrations, I had no clue, but it did not matter.

As a King, I had been able to fend him off. I could easily do it again.

Fear overcame the young King as this seemed to dawn on him. He sent a petrified glance over his shoulder at the shadow-human. Then he whipped towards us and almost begged, "SUBMIT! ALWAYS-THERE MAD!"

" _No!_ " Hiccup and I returned.

" _We can help you!_ " Hiccup added.

Confusion filled his eyes. He bared his teeth—and with a fearful hiss, he charged, aiming low with his tusks to smash into us.

Hiccup leapt upon my shoulders. With a furious, terrified snarl, I twisted around and sent a slow, steady flame upon the ice.

It wasn't melting fast enough. It wasn't melting fast enough! I crouched and opened my wings, preparing to storm into the air anyways—anything other than just standing in place!

There was a rush of white—the sound of flesh rending and bones snapping—

The elder King slumped across the beach, his midsection slashed open and pooling lakes of blood. The scent of it was so overpowering that I fell to the ground and began to heave.

He had taken the blow for us.

The counter-song dimmed until it was almost impossible to hear.

"N-no," Hiccup breathed.

I swung my tail high and smashed it into the ground. The impact sent streams of pain through my tailfins, both old and new, and I hissed as the shattered ice dug deep cuts into my tail.

In the sudden, still silence, I launched myself up and over to the King, landing just beside his tusk as he lied there. His breathing was uneven and laborious, his eyes fluttering. Hiccup reached out a rattling paw and laid it on him.

" _I…I am so sorry_ ," he whimpered.

A roar from the shadow-human, and the young King began to advance on us, fluttering his scrappy frills and his dull, scarred scales marred with blood. His eyes were wide, fearful—but also glinted with victory and pride. He walked with the air of a praised yearling, proud to look old and smart in front of his elders.

 _Do not be sorry_ , the King sighed to us. He coughed, splattering blood onto the ground. I _am sorry…I could not protect you…_

" _Soulfire!_ " Hiccup yelped. " _Us teach you soulfire!_ " He turned to me for affirmation.

A deal was a deal. I nodded.

 _Ah…_ The King moaned. _But I am afraid I cannot wield it. My life is seeping from me, and soon…_

He closed his eyes with a pained moan.

The young King stopped and swayed. He shook his head with a confused growl, and commanded at the spiraling song dragons, "QUIET!"

 _Forgive him_ , the King wheezed. _Life as a slave to humans is all he knows. He has lived so isolated that he can scarcely speak our language. It breaks my heart…_

" _We will help him_ ," Hiccup whispered.

The King shuddered, his limbs splaying violently, his eyes rolling. For a horrifying moment, he did nothing but seize, his blood warm and steaming in the frigid wasteland of his nest.

When it was over, he crept dull blue eyes to us.

 _Bring them hope, Saviors._

The ground thundered with the young King's footsteps.

 _Promise me, you will bring hope to this world…to our nestmates, to your kind humans…even to this lost one here._

" _We promise_ ," Hiccup and I breathed.

The King allowed one last small, trusting smile to grace his lips. His eyes unfocused.

With his final breath, he let out a solitary note of the counter-song.

Hiccup held a paw to his mouth, shaking, and we pressed close to each other with bowed heads.

"This—this is our fault," Hiccup whispered, his small body shaking violently, struggling to blink away tears.

" _No_ ," I said, although the burden of guilt still rested firmly on my shoulders.

The King's nestmates hovered close above, and now they descended to land on their fallen King. They nosed at him, trying to rouse him, and began to wail with heartbreak. It was so loud that it almost drowned out the song, even as it swelled up around us. Among them, I spotted the Color-Shifter and the Four-Wing, both of them curled up in a tight, shaking embrace, 'Eret' caught between them.

"YOU SUBMIT!" The young King cried joyously, a sharp contrast to the pained mourning of the King's nest. "LOOK, ALWAYS-THERE! LOOK!"

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw him twist around, looking expectantly and excitedly to the shadow-human, who had made his way onto the beach.

The shadow-human was advancing straight towards us, ignoring his prisoner.

The young King's proud smile fell. He inched his head lower and pleaded, "LOOK! LOOK! ME GOOD!"

The monster's eyes flickered up to him once before regaining his sheer focus on us. He lifted his claw-stick and shouted a command to his underlings. Sorrowful screams turned to fear as the few free dragons that remained were picked off one by one.

A dull part of my mind registered that the battle was over because we had _lost_. We had _lost_ and now the monster was capturing the dragons that remained.

The King was dead. His nestmates were besides themselves with grief. The song dragons were now starting to fill the pocket the counter-song left behind, no longer held at bay. The humans of the shadow-nest cheered, knowing the battle had been won in their favor. Nets were still thrown into the air, sending the King's nestmates plunging in their greatest moment of weakness.

Even the ocean was chaotic, roiling and frothing. A huge wave burst over the shadow-nest and onto the shore, sucking some of the King' blood back into the inky black.

We had failed them.

My legs began to tremble.

All of them had trusted us, their Kings, their Saviors, and _we had failed them._

The young King was trembling now. He took a small step backwards, ducking his head and tail submissively, and curled up onto the ground. "ME…BAD?"

With those two lost, confused, heartbroken words, the spell over me snapped.

Despite all of the loss, it was seeing the young King's whimpering pleas for the shadow-man's approval that sent rage burning through my heart. I snarled, and Hiccup echoed it.

The King could not use soulfire.

We would take his place.

"This ends _now!_ " I roared, flaring my wings wide. I leapt up into the air before that monster could even _think_ of coming close, raising high to the King's eye level. The shadow-human frowned, clearly annoyed we had not stayed put, and watched us ascend.

Soulfire blazed across my scales, beaming neon blue light across my spine, my wings, my torso.

"We are the Saviors!" I howled.

" _Stand down!_ " Hiccup finished.

The young King stared up at as with awe. He glanced down at the monster for guidance.

And, in that moment, the song dragons _did_ something.

The song dimmed around us. Those under its hold suddenly swerved, flying with purpose instead of aimless wandering. They spiraled towards us, forming a tight circle around us. It was almost the complete opposite of the sphere we had used to defeat the Queen; rather than soulfire on the outside and the dragon on the inside, it was the other way around.

All at once, a word sprung onto the lips of the song dragons, so soft it would have been easily ignored. But in their collective mass, I heard it just on the edge of the wind, a breathed prayer full of reverence and wonder and excitement:

"… _soulfire…_ "

The next moment was one I would not soon forget.

The song dragons resumed their song, uncaring of the humans still attacking them from below. The shadow-human roared a command, prompting the young King to take a hesitant step closer. Our nestmates and humans cried out to us, rushing to our aid, even as the younger dragons struggled to fight off the song.

There was a blast of cold air, and fog exploded across the island.

A deafening roar ripped the open air to shreds, and Hiccup only just clamped his entire body over my ears in time to save my sense of hearing.

The young King twisted around as the fog rose up to his flanks, reared up on his hind legs, and snarled, "YOU!"

Just within sight, on the waters past the beach, the fog seemed to coalesce into something. It shifted and wavered with the miasma around it, but it still retained its shape into something _solid._

And that _solid_ thing dwarfed the King at least twice over, filling the horizon as its enormous form reached up, up, _up_ into the skies.

" _The source,_ " Hiccup said. He looked over his shoulder at the cacophony below—at the dead King, at the few remaining free dragons, at all the song dragons…at our nestmates, who were hovering out of range of the shadow-nest's humans, their eyes filled with fear. "Oh no. _Oh no._ "

It did not have eyes, and yet I felt its chilling stare on us, sending ice shooting through my blood. The song dragons scattered. The fog exploded into claws, rushing at us in frigid gales. Hiccup leaned hard to the left, and I threw myself in that direction, swerving desperately away as the mists closed in.

The young King roared—a sound that was soft and distant compared to the sound _this_ creature had just made—and sent his most powerful blast of ice yet at the creature.

The fog curled around the ice, shifting about as if the _thing_ was not even there.

" _Soulfire_?" Hiccup suggested. "I don't…I don't know if it's such a good idea."

The young King tried another strike, desperate now. He swiped a great paw out, again and again, to no avail. "ALWAYS-THERE!" he cried, terrified now. "HELP!"

" _It is our_ only _idea_ ," I growled. I climbed up through the air, flinging towards the mist and letting my gas curl through my throat.

When we had reached close enough to its "head", I took careful aim at what vaguely _looked_ like the soft spot between its neck and jaw and let loose my soulfire, watching it blaze like a shooting star through the fog.

It was a direct impact, curling against the source's paradoxical body. It exploded in a vivid array, the ice-blue fire swirling around, and around, and around…

It twirled through its "neck", up to its "head", where it finally coalesced in a small egg-shaped circle around its forehead. Then the soulfire dimmed away, leaving no mark.

"Welp, that did nothing," Hiccup grunted. Then his breath caught. "Wait…that did nothing…"

I was aghast as well, hovering there with my jaw hanging open, my eyes wide, my heart filled with fear.

Soulfire, the magic of the gods, the fury of the gods, the sheer essence and _power_ of the gods…had done _nothing._

The King's harrowing words echoed through my thoughts: _If its ancient power is useless in the face of the song, then…then the source would be just as strong, if not stronger, than the gods Themselves._

The source towered above. The shadow-nest stretched below. Song dragons swarmed in all directions. The King was dead.

Horror filled me as more mist-claws raked through the air, as the behemoth before us shifted to come closer. Hiccup ducked this way and that, guiding me through our frantic retreat from the foggy shadows, and I struggled to keep an eye on what it was doing.

In desperation, I filled my mouth with gas, channeled as much soulfire as I could, and threw us up towards the skies. This time I didn't stop, not when song dragons threatened to impact, not when the cold became overwhelming. Hiccup's legs and claws clamped tight around me, and it was all he could do to hang on.

I reached the level above the source's "head" and sent a ray of soulfire upon it, so bright and hot that all the surrounding mists were blown away.

The fire swirled in a tight, egg-shaped sphere of light just at the source's forehead. For a moment, a single speck of light glowed there—and then that, too, was consumed. I took us in a tight turn around the source's head and shivered at the way it slowly twisted around to follow us.

"Soulfire won't work!" Hiccup grunted, his voice high with anxiety. "But I think we can lure it away from the nest!"

We were above the ocean now, still filled with floating-trees of the shadow-nest. Many of them were crushed, flaming, or covered in ice.

The mists lunged forward, both from the source and above. I had no other choice: I dove down towards the shadow-nest.

A quick glance over my shoulder struck me with fear.

The source bent, chasing us below, filling my vision with fog.

" _Fly!_ " Hiccup gasped. " _Go, go, go!_ "

I twisted and pulled my wings in as tight as I could, praying to the gods that we could outrun it. Below, specks of fire lit up along the floating-trees. Moments later, and flaming-stones and enormous, metallic woodclaws were rising to meet us.

I ducked and swerved, some of them barely missing us by a winglength. The wind raced past my ears, bringing us closer, closer—

A strangled scream boomed from above. I snapped my wings open and angled us away, skirting just over the shadow-nest.

The second time the source screamed, I saw why.

One of the monster's war machines sent an explosive up towards it—where it smashed directly into the center of the source's "head", just where my soulfire had been absorbed.

The mists bulged—and the enormous claws of the young King swiped directly through the mists forming the creature's "neck". More weapons were thrown up at it, but all passed through it.

The source ignored this all, its invisible eyes still piercing straight into my heart. It chased after us, still sending huge gouts of cold wind racing after us, the fog just at our tails.

"It's got a weak point!" Hiccup hissed in my ear. "Take us around the armada—maybe we can use them to land a few hits!"

I grinned. "Using our enemies to fight for us?" A draft of fog closed in on us, and I took us in a sharp turn to avoid it. "I think I like that!"

I pushed all of my strength into my soulfire, lighting my scales up as a beacon. A beacon that the source, apparently, could not resist.

The fog was closing in from almost all sides now. The source's form persisted through it, its head bowed close to the shadow-nest as it struggled to chase after us. I skirted between the pillars of the shadow-nest, making sure to fly above floating-trees without humans on them and hoping they wouldn't be dumb enough to try to shoot at us.

The remnants of the King's ice wall came upon us—but that was all I saw.

The young King bulged through the mists, his eyes awash with fear.

I flew right underneath him, swerved past his tail, and took us in a sharp climb upwards.

The source had ducked its head to follow—and now, the young King stepped into the mists forming its "head", lifted up, and brought his great paws down directly in the center.

The fog all around us _jolted_ and _spasmed_ as an ear-splitting screech filled the air. The young King bared his teeth, pressing further down with his paws, crushing the single solid portion of the source with all his weight.

There was a sharp snapping sound.

Ripples burst through the fog, zig-zagging through it like cracks in an eggshell. The young King removed his paws with a start, wrenching away.

The cracks were coming from a shell—a shell of _my_ soulfire, which had been buried deep within the dense fog. Veins of it were protruding out into the source's "body", and as the cracks in its form deepened, they were further exposed.

Through the sudden, shocked silence, one voice rose above all: the shadow-human.

" _Trap it!_ "

The young King reared. Weapons both on the ground and on the floating-trees that remained were aimed at the shell.

Flaming-rocks exploded around it just before the King slammed his paws down once more.

The soulfire veins on the source fizzled out. A blast of freezing wind erupted from the King's paws, driving the thick fog out as it literally _dropped_ to the earth below. The mists were so dense that I could see the wind coming up on us, giving me just enough time to turn my tail to it and ride it, Hiccup pressed tight against my spine. I swooped behind the King and used his massive girth to block the wind, hovering just behind his head.

When it was over, an odd calm fell across the beach. Our nestmates flung up towards us, eager to return to their Kings. The Color-Shifter joined them as well, the Four-Wing hot on his tail.

"Somebody please take this," he moaned, throwing his snout at a wide-eyed 'Eret'. "He's squeezed my neck so thoroughly, it's a miracle I can breathe."

"Are you guys alright?" Hiccup asked, getting to more _important_ matters.

At the same time, Astrid gasped, "Are you two alright?"

Besides a few scrapes here and there, our nestmates and humans looked no worse for wear. But Stormfly and Hookfang were both squinting, shaking their heads every so often. I craned my neck, easily spotting the song dragons that still meandered in wayward paths.

I narrowed my eyes upon hearing the song still on their lips. It was faint, but it was there.

"This isn't over yet," I panted. The exertion of fleeing around and around the island was beginning to take its toll on me. The soul-magic in me began to fade, the blue light leaving my scales.

I did not force it to stay as I had done once before.

Hiccup hummed—and then he twisted on my back, facing the young King.

" _Good!_ " he shouted.

The King snapped his eyes towards us. He tilted his head, his mouth parted with shock. "GOOD?"

Every dragon and human cringed. The King squinted, studying us.

"…good?" He asked this time, making an effort to lower his voice.

"There you go! _Yes!_ " Hiccup gasped, relieved. Eagerly, he said, " _Us_ friends!"

"We can help you," I said, although my eyes had yet to stray from the King's paws, where _whatever_ he had crushed still lied.

"What?!" the Color-Shifter shrieked with sudden rage. "You want to help this _monster!_ This creature that lowers himself below human paws, who has mercilessly struck down our King!"

"I'll still be his friend," Stormfly wheezed, her head and tail drooping with exhaustion but her voice having not lost its cheer. "He needs it!"

"Exactly," I said. I turned and met the Color-Shifter's eyes, cringing at the sharp betrayal flaring within them. "And I'm sorry. I know it's unreasonable to ask this of you. But if we could convince him to side with _us_ , then—"

The King yelped, flinching his paws back.

The monster drew back his claw-stick, having plunged it deep into the young King's paw.

"SORRY!" the King squealed, ducking his head and tail low. Then, catching himself, "Me sorry…me sorry…"

The Color-Shifter shot me a look. "See? Look at this pitiful wretch! He is lost to us!" He suddenly dipped to the side when 'Eret' leaned out too far, peering desperately below, and hissed, "Now somebody get this thing off of me!"

"Hiccup! Catch us up to speed!" Astrid said, her voice high and tense.

" _That's_ the source!" He said, pointing below. "And Drago's…Drago's…"

His voice trailed off.

The King had left a crater in the beach, and already it was filled and seeping with bloody saltwater. But as the shadow-human slogged down into the small lake of blood, he stopped and paused. After a moment, he bent over and snatched his claws into the crimson waters, looking almost like he was hunting for small, darting fish.

And he pulled out a little, pine-brown dragon by its scruff, throwing it like discarded prey onto the bloodied pebbles of the beach.

"Wh…what?" Hiccup breathed, frozen on my back, his voice small.

Sudden heartbreak, pain that I _thought_ had mostly left me, swelled in my heart. It was…it was the same size that…

I made a reckless, thoughtless decision.

"Nestmates!" I cried. "We must save it from that human! He cannot have control of it!"

" _Understood!_ "

We dove, no longer understanding what world we were throwing ourselves into. All we knew was that the shadow-human had won the battle, and now he had the source _._ And the source looked just like…

I shuddered to think of what fate would befall it at his paws. It seemed that we may not be Saviors _only_ to the dragons of the archipelago.

Already his underlings were shouting warnings, readying weapons to meet us midair. Woodclaws and nets sprung up at us, and Barf-and-Belch swept in front of us, spraying an enormous stream of gas into the air.

The resounding explosion reached the beach, sending humans scattering. I swept into it and landed amongst the smoke, right in front of the little brown dragon.

Its form was difficult to discern—as if the more I focused on it, the more _unfocused_ my eyes became. Even a few meters in front of it, I could only make out a vague shape—four-legged, a pair of wings, a long tail—but that was all.

A sense of unease swept through me, but not only because of its surreal appearance—or surreal _lack_ thereof.

The little brown dragon was horribly limp, its eyes closed and its mouth slightly parted. It wasn't moving. It wasn't _breathing_.

"Oh…" I murmured, my wings and tail lowering.

Hiccup slid off of my shoulders and took a stiff, almost fearful step towards it.

The dragon's eyes snapped open.

 _Pine-green_ , I noted dimly, even as my limbs locked in place, as the screams and shouts of battle around us muffled.

If its form was impossible to discern, its eyes were impossible to look away from. I could see its every emotion within them. They seemed to have a supernatural glow about them, like the strands of dragon souls that swam in the night sky had been locked away within them. They were full of feeling and meaning, and yet _hollow_ at the same time, like life only thrived at its surface.

It lurched to its feet—it still wasn't breathing—it was shorter than me—it met Hiccup's frozen gaze…

The source and Hiccup looked into each other, and both of their eyes glinted with pain and jealousy.

"What… _are_ you?" Hiccup whispered.

The source's luminescent eyes filled with rage and sorrow. It opened its wings, lifted its head to the skies, and _howled._

An unnatural blast of cold air swept across the beach, sending the smoke surrounding us spiraling away...and revealing the shadow-human just out of reach. We spotted him the same time he saw us, and Hiccup backpedaled towards me. He was on my shoulders before the shadow-human could even lift his claw-stick.

I crouched low, bringing gas to my throat. The shadow-human looked between us and the source.

He made his decision.

With a sneer, the monster rounded on the source. A dark shadow overcame it. Fear replaced the anger and jealousy within its eyes, and it spread its wavering wings and reared onto its hind legs—

The song boomed from the source, just as loud as when it had been a fog-shrouded beast.

The beach, the battle, the shadow-human, our nestmates—all of it fell away, dragging me into nothingness. The buzzing-insect-feeling I had grown to recognize burst through my mind, filling it with dense and unyielding fog.

 _No!_

I rapidly blinked suddenly-blind eyes, pinned ears that no longer caught sound. There was something…there was something _important_ …something _familiar_ about this…but…?

I had to fight back—fight _what?_ —I had to—I had to—

I...I...

The insect-sound was so...broken...

I focused my attention on it, struggling to understand it. The more I focused, the less defined it was. All I could make out was an aimless meandering to it, how it seemed to be going _somewhere_ but was so wayward that it lost its way.

" _Hm…_ " I repeated it underneath my breath. A painful tightness in my chest loosened, one that I did not even know was there until it was gone. Desperate to keep it at bay, I sang louder now, " _Hm…_ "

Somewhere, right at my ear, a familiar voice repeated me, " _Hm…_ "

For a brief moment, a terrible horror swept over me. The more I sang, the better I felt. The more I masked it, the less it could _hurt_ me.

So I sang.

It wasn't quite a song, but a _feeling_ given form. I let myself sink further into it, into its paradoxical incompleteness—of love and hatred, of joy and anger, of safety of insecurity…

…of fullness and emptiness.

" _Hiccup_ ," something said.

…was it…me…?

The smothering fog overtook me, ripping the name from my lungs. Panic and sorrow and terror flashed in my heart.

I sang, so that the pain would go away.


	23. Chapter 22

**Hello, everyone!**

 **So, another miracle happened: I responded to the reviews AGAIN! So I'd like to sincerely thank** **Tista2018, ivanganev1992, ObiBen213, Nacktgranate, Samateus-Taal, FyrandTheGryffinclaw, Surprise Crayfish, NightShadow9558, Anonymous Noob the 2nd, AthosRanoxy, Flopy, Laluzi, TheDragon15, Penelope Valentine, Cyeithen, TheWhisperingWarrior, CrisDLZ, saddmann, Viperclaw14, gaylord420, Elt-1080, Varghul, Crysist and all anonymous reviewers for their kind words! Seriously, you guys are the best! But you know who also is the best? My beta Crysist!**

 **Also, I have some exciting news...as of now, the entire draft of Echoed Songs is complete! That means that from here on out, it should be updates every other week to the end, with delays only being caused by school and other life problems rather than catching up to the most recently-written chapter. So no months-longs hiatuses like back in the IHHS days!**

 **Besides that, I hope you all have a wonderful day, and a wonderful Spring Break to those who have it! As always, reviews are greatly appreciated, and I promise I will make an effort to respond to them!**

* * *

 **Chapter 22**

Astrid

Like most terrible things, it was already too late by the time I'd begun to process what had happened.

"Hiccup…?" I gasped, glancing between the Chief's son and the…the…the _thing_ that Drago had yanked out of the pool of blood. I could barely make out its form, but it still made me double-check that Hiccup really _was_ up here with us, and not somehow down there, returned to the form he so desperately wanted at the hands of a madman.

Toothless screeched a command that all of our dragons took up with vigor. We dived down, down, _down_ , so fast that it took all my effort just to hold on. Stormfly landed some pretty good hits on the men surrounding Drago, giving Toothless and Hiccup precious moments to do whatever it was they were planning.

Then everything went to hell. Again.

The smoke ripped apart under sharp winds, revealing Hiccup and Toothless standing right besides _Drago_. The thing that looked so much like Hiccup used to opened its maw and let out an otherworldly scream. A heartbeat for panic to set in, and it let loose the song.

"Stormfly!" I shouted, clenching my fists around her ropes. "Just hold on, girl! You're going to be okay! Just hold on!"

She ducked and swooped in careless, erratic zig-zags, her eyes wild with terror. As she did, she cried out the same song-like call from before, but I couldn't tell how much it was helping—not like this. Not this close.

The other dragons around us weren't doing much better. They fluttered about, shrieking and squawking and colliding midair in their confusion.

It was too much. Stormfly and I were sitting ducks, just waiting to be picked off or smacked into. In an effort to get us to safety, I leaned hard back towards the nest and the dead King, pulling the ropes as tight as I could.

"This way, Stormfly!" I shouted, wrapping my arms around her neck and shoving her head in the same direction. "Fly there! It's okay, Stormfly! It's okay!"

That damned creature was still singing. I risked a glance over my shoulder, but there were so many dragons and men scrambling that I couldn't see anything—not even Toothless or Hiccup.

Stormfly's song became more desperate, almost like a wail—but she did as I told her. With frantic, uneven flaps, she tilted us towards safety, flying in a swaying, dipping pattern that had my stomach leaping up to my heart every couple of seconds.

All around me, I could hear the others struggling to help their own dragons. Fishlegs and Meatlug whizzed past, Meatlug shaking her head wildly and just barely avoiding flying into another dragon. Hookfang spiraled past, his wings just a hair away from slamming right into Stormfly's tail. The twins and Barf and Belch were nowhere in sight, although I could hear both of them spatting at each other somewhere.

"Hiccup! Toothless!" I shouted into the chaos, craning my neck to look for them. "Where are you?!"

They weren't flying above. Were they taking up the rear?

I whipped back around, squinting through the blur of wings and tails and nets…and nearly fell off of Stormfly.

They were standing there, right in front of Drago and the _thing_...and they _weren't moving._ Even Hiccup was sitting atop Toothless' shoulders, staring blankly in front of him, seemingly unaware that the man that had been hunting him and _had_ hunted him was within reaching distance of him.

That statue-like, blank posture had been burned into mind from seeing Stormfly in that state. I didn't have to hear them.

They had been taken over.

"Oh, no," I whispered. Then, getting ahold of myself, I shouted, "Guys, they're in trouble! We gotta help them!"

"How?!" Snotlout shouted from a frantic, screeching Hookfang's back. The pair blew right overhead, then took a sharp turn to avoid a pod of song dragons—song dragons that were very quickly shot down.

Stormfly chose that _exact_ moment to land.

In the middle of a battlefield.

I'd barely managed to shriek out her name before she hit the ground hard, throwing me in the process. She writhed on the ground, slamming her wings against it and whipping her tail. Her eyes were huge, rolling with panic, and every cry she let out was followed by a huge gasp of air.

My mind flashed back to that horrible, devastating night: of that first dragon raid, of Stormfly wounded and held down, wailing with agony. Of me being unable to go to her when she needed me.

I clenched my fists and got to my feet.

I would be damned if I wasn't there for her this time.

Stormfly let out a startled squawk when I lunged at her, grabbing her head in my arms and holding her to my chest. She stopped flopping around and went deathly-still, whining and shivering. She was still trying to sing defensively, but now it was shaking like wild vibrato, bumping up and down like she was being shaken.

I lowered my voice so that she would be forced to listen closely. "It's okay, girl," I whispered.

There were a few men around us, all of them having stumbled back from the shock of our landing. Now they got their wits about them and began to form a wary barrier around us.

"It's okay," I murmured, keeping watch of them in the corners of my eyes. I pressed my forehead against Stormfly's and crept one hand down to my axe. "It's fine. I promise you, everything's gonna be fine."

Stormfly's song evened out, becoming more consistent. She gave a small chirp and pressed closer to me. For a moment, everything seemed to fall silent.

Then that fact caught up to me: everything was silent.

The _thing_ had stopped singing. Now only the distant humming of its followers could be heard above.

Stormfly seemed to realize it at the same time as I did. She suddenly cut herself short, leapt to her feet, and roared.

I had the chance to look over my shoulder, back towards Toothless and Hiccup. In the chaos, I could see them still standing there, still inches away from Drago. The giant King dragon had gone rigid behind them.

Before I could even think of a plan, the men charged.

I drew my axe and shifted my weight, ready to launch myself at the warrior that was unlucky enough to be my first target.

The weak sunlight blinked out. Stormfly pressed up against me, flared her wings, and spat a stream of fire in a complete circle around us. It was so forceful that I threw myself down and covered my head, trying desperately from keeping my hair and vest from catching on fire.

The men shrieked with anguish. A distinct fizzling and popping sound flared up around us. People-shaped forms flailed in the flames, and the scent of burning hair and cloth and flesh stung at my nose. Sharp clangs pounded my eardrums as weapons were dropped, and the ground vibrated with thuds as some collapsed.

When the intense heat had faded, all of them were either sprinting away or lying dead in the blood-wetted snow.

Stormfly panted for breath, lowering her head. Her eyelids drooped. She sniffed at the bodies and recoiled away, drawing her wings and tail close with a high, keening whine.

"Good girl," I panted, straightening up and resting a hand on her shoulder. "You did good. Good job, Stormfly."

Stormfly went in for another hug—one I gladly returned, if it would help just a little. As I did, I leered around us at the warriors that remained.

Wide, uncertain eyes locked on their fellow warriors—warriors that were burned and dying, still burning in Stormfly's weakening flame. Some began to back away. Some uneasily raised their weapons. It seemed that Stormfly had gotten the brave ones, or the leaders...or maybe both, if we were lucky.

I hated to push her more. Still, I drew away and patted at her shoulder. She stooped for me right away, helping me clamber on.

The sky was becoming less and less littered with dragons—over half of them were taken down already. I could see Meatlug, Barf and Belch, and even the dragon Eret was on hovering far above, staring straight down at where Hiccup and Toothless were.

Between all of the chaos, there was a pocket of emptiness where all of the men had stopped to stare at their master and his prize. Perched on top of Stormfly, I could just barely see them. The _thing_ had a net tying it down now, and it was writhing around like an eel caught on a line. Yet Drago wasn't even looking at it, like he wasn't worried that he had to restrain a literal god-like creature. He reached up a dark hand, and his shadow seemed to rain down from it.

Then he laid it on Hiccup's head, patting at him like some dumb animal.

My blood boiled at the sight.

"Let's go teach him a lesson," I snarled to Stormfly. "If you mess with one of us, you mess with all of us."

She jumped, shooting me a surprised look, and followed my gaze.

Her entire body stiffened. Her spines rose and rattled, her tail whipped, and a deep snarl rose in her throat.

"Atta girl!" I praised. "Let's go!"

We launched into the air, leaving an enormous, smoldering circle in our wake. The cowardly men outside it not didn't even dare to challenge us again. The sight normally would have lifted my spirits with confidence, but instead, my stomach sank the further and further we got closer to our friends.

Every dragon had been taken over…but ours. Plus Eret's, if you could call that dragon "his".

We needed to get out of here, five minutes ago.

"Go, go, go!" I urged Stormfly, pressing myself against her to hold tighter. The rope flapped wildly in the wind as we soared over the battlefield, straight at the monster who had caused all of this death and loss.

A flurry of nets rose to meet us.

"Gods damn it!" I hissed. I could have sworn Stormfly joined in on the cursing, squawking as she swooped out of the way and in a sharp turn around Drago. She fluttered unsteadily midway, suddenly unsure of where to go, and the men below began hollering orders to reload their nets.

"Up!" I gasped, catching Stormfly's eyes and pointing.

She threw her tail down and sped upwards, eager to get away from the singing dragons. Nets came flinging up at us, some missing her tail by inches. Once we were high enough, she twirled around, facing back down towards the horrifying scene below.

A team of men had surrounded the _thing_ , but it still thrashed enough for them to just barely contain it. I noticed right away that someone had clamped a binding around the vague outline of its jaw.

Hiccup and Toothless were _still_ completely still. Drago stood just at their side, looking both immensely satisfied and disappointed. He studied them both, wary of Toothless' maw, and then lifted his bullhook.

Without tearing his eyes off of his prizes, he lifted his arm to signal his men right towards Stormfly and me.

" _NO!_ " I screamed. With a startled shriek, Stormfly launched up and away—just in time for weapons to whiz past us. She let out a sharp whine as something struck true, and I just barely managed to duck under a swinging bola before it hit me directly in the head.

There was a loud, alarmed shout from below.

Yet from _above_ , I heard Fishlegs' voice, "Astrid! Over here, hurry!"

Stormfly swooped with a loud cry, jerked her head towards Fishlegs' voice, and made a beeline towards him and the others. All of them, dragon and human alike, were staring past us with wide eyes, their jaws hanging open. Snotlout was even _smiling_.

I nearly screamed at him until I followed their gazes—and all but lost my composure from the sheer relief of what I saw.

Hiccup and Toothless were still standing there, just as statue-still as the King dragon right next to them. More men had swarmed the creature, making it disappear under a mass of arms and bindings as it still struggled for its freedom. All of them were gaping at their leader.

Because Drago had been launched to the ground, sprawled onto his back.

A shadow swept over him.

Stoick the Vast, the Chief of Berk, lifted his sword and shield and squared himself in front of Hiccup and Toothless. One of Drago's men rushed him, and he pounded him with his shield, dug his hand into the man's clothing, and launched him back where he came. He whipped back towards Drago, who had made his way to his feet with a sneer.

And he _roared._

" _Stay away from my son!_ "

 **o.O.o**

Stoick

The sight of the nest was horrifying.

When the teenagers had not returned, it had been clear that I had made a heavy mistake. Astrid, as clever as she was, should not have been trusted with the lives of four other of her people _and_ four dragons. Not because she was incapable—but because the job simply wasn't possible.

Desperation had taken the place of reason, and now the children of my tribe had paid the price.

When the fog returned out on the horizon—so fast, so close, so cold—it was clear that we were in over our heads. I would not allow my own stubbornness and bullheadedness to put any more of my own at risk. With Gobber as their lead, I sent all of our men back to Berk—back to _safety_ —and sailed alone.

Alone, save for my captive.

The venom that spewed from Bertha's teeth grew in cruelty and intensity as we crested the waves. The departure of the dragons had brought her confidence. With every failed attempt to rattle me, she grew all the more agitated. She screamed. She hissed threats. She told me tales of Hiccup, of him bound and hurt and wild like a feral dragon, of him taken over by the very same mysterious illness that had affected Stormfly.

Hours of that passed, with precious moments of silence few and far between as the Chief of the Bog Burglars did everything she could to shake my nerves, to weaken me.

The fog always seemed just far enough away, just out of reach, like chasing a storm far out at sea. Yet as the sun began to fall that day, I spied something flickering on the horizon's edge.

It was an enormous black mass, sucking up the dying light with ravenous hunger, a brilliant white wake left in its path. The armada.

It was quickly lost to me, even through a spyglass. Still, nothing _that_ large would move at such a speed if it intended on shifting directions. As well as I knew the winds, I knew that wherever it was going, it was headed straight towards it.

Most of all, I knew that Hiccup was on it.

After hours of sailing, the nest came into view just as a dragon equal in its size exploded through it, like a hatchling cracking through its egg.

I took my ship round the island, towards the back end and as far from the armada's catapults as I could. It provided a horrid view of the battle—of the shadows wrenching the dragons from the skies, of the infected dragons swirling mindlessly above, of the two gods-of-dragons waging war with men scrambling beneath their feet.

By the time I had anchored, the battle had been won.

Wails of the living lifted to the heavens. The stench of blood laid thick in the air, hanging at the back of my throat.

Amidst the darkness, a brilliant blue light rose into the sky like a meteor.

"Toothless!" I gasped, lurching off of the ship and leaving Bertha tied to the mast. She screeched in protest, but I was already charging towards the center of the battle, to the fallen god-of-dragons spilling its innards onto the stony beach, to _him._

Stormy-black fog lurched and twirled through the air. Horrible roars echoed from seemingly all directions, like the dead crying out all at once in their despair. My eyes remained locked on the skies as they came to life, reaching out to grasp at the little blue light flickering above.

The entire earth seemed to erupt with sound. It shook me down to my bones, but still I scrambled over obstacles, around pillars of ice thicker than houses, past scrambling men priming war machines.

I glanced away for a second—and then I lost them again. The living sky folded in around them, swallowing them from sight.

I refused to let my strength waver, pounding across the blood-soaked beach and thrusting my way through crowd after crowd. It was an easy task; all of the men had stopped to watch the unearthly spectacle. I desperately searched the skies for that north star, for that blazing light that beckoned to me. I could not find it, only the scattering of bellowing dragons.

The wounded god-of-dragons suddenly reared, its horrifying bulk reaching up into the clouds. Down it went, throwing its weight onto something.

A visceral scream, a rush of biting, cold wind, a shocked silence...and then the battle rekindled as the army picked off what few dragons remained. By then, I had neared the dead god-of-dragons enough so that its body reached up high, blocking most of the sky from view. I sprinted alongside it, desperate to reach around it.

"Hiccup!" I called into the chaos. "Toothless!"

The blood rose up to my ankles. I was close enough now that the stench of blood was nauseating and all of my vision was blocked by the corpse. My heart pounded, and somehow I found more strength in me to run faster, to close this vulnerable gap that left me blind and useless. I knew, with nothing other than a sense of dread, that they were just behind this defeated giant, that they were just within reach if I could only _get_ there fast enough.

I saw them the moment I _finally_ rounded around the dead dragon's form.

I saw _him._

I felt my heart both lift with joy…and shatter.

There he was, standing in front of Toothless, lurching to his feet…a dragon once more. The great distance between us distorted his form, but even from here, I could make out his pine-brown scales, his scrawny stature, his impressive wingspan.

And then he threw his head back and _screamed._ It was of such explosive anguish that surely, _surely_ he had been injured. Fear plunged deep into my soul.

Toothless swayed and went rigid. I sprung into a sprint—and then skidded to a stop as a second, more unwelcome surprise became clear to me.

Because even from here, I could clearly see someone sitting atop his shoulders.

"…Hiccup?" I murmured, my eyes flicking between the little brown dragon and the familiar human form.

There was no time for questions; someone was approaching them, and even with his form warped by distance and time, I still instantly recognized that lurching, confident step. I set myself into a charge, my limbs filled with a second wind.

The madman reached out, brushed a hand against the figure's hair, and took a step back. He lifted his bullhook, its tip reflecting sharp light. In that very moment, my doubt was whisked away, just as swift as that metal barb could cut through flesh.

" _Hiccup!_ " I shouted, my heart thundering, the battle melting into a blur about me as my every sense focused on my son, on that _devil_ standing before him threatening to take his life.

Thor himself seemed to renew my limbs with strength. I sprinted for all I was worth, fighting to get there in time, praying that, for once in my gods-damned life, I could do right by my son.

Drago Bludvist pulled back his bullhook. He swung his arm in the beginnings of his final strike.

I clamped my hand on the bullhook, wrenched it backwards, and used all of my momentum to barrel into him. To see him thrown backwards was sweeter than honey, made all the better when one of his men tried to have a go at me. I disposed of him without a second thought and squared myself in front of Hiccup and Toothless.

" _Stay away from my son!_ " I bellowed, lifting my sword and shield and meeting the madman's eyes.

He lurched to his feet with an inhuman growl. For a moment, confusion flickered in those dark eyes, darting back and forth between Hiccup and myself.

"Son?" He laughed. He ripped his bullhook from the ground and his face contorted with disgust. "That _thing_ is nothing more than a wild animal taken human form. A monster made by the dragons." He pointed behind me. "Look at it, just as overcome as the dragons surrounding us. There is nothing humanleft in it."

I risked a glance behind me.

Blank eyes stared past me. Both Hiccup and Toothless were thrumming with a soft, deep sound that sent prickles of ice down my spine.

I twisted back towards Drago before the horror of it broke me. In the periphery of my eyes, I spied Astrid and her friends with their dragons, hovering far above, out of Drago's line of sight.

I signaled her with a short wave towards Hiccup and Toothless and squared myself in front of Drago. "I will not allow you to take him from me again."

A crooked grin split across his face. "But it's already mine." He pointed behind him, to where the little brown dragon had been muzzled and buried under the bulk of at least a dozen men.

It had ceased wrenching around, and now its luminescent, pine-green eyes were fixated on us. An involuntary shudder wracked through me at the sheer _weight_ of its gaze. It was heavy and sharp, almost a physical feeling, whereas the rest of its body seemed to melt like wisps into the bloodied sand and pebbles of the beach.

Whatever it was, that creature was not of our world.

"The source is mine now," Drago gloated. "This battle is won."

"And what shall you do with it, then?" I growled. "Now you've had your way. Will you return to the Viking tribes and demand our servitude once again?"

Ravenous hunger gleamed in those dark eyes. "Well," he chuckled, "that would be a start. But now…" He admired his catch, and the otherworldly creature lurched about. "Now, I can finish what I started so long ago, when I was just a boy. What I always thought would be impossible."

Behind him, I met Astrid's determined, waiting eyes and nodded. The men around us remained unaware, gawking at me like the worthless underlings they likely were.

"The takeover of all the lands?" I stalled.

Drago laughed and turned back to face me. "No. I've got far bigger plans for _this_." His maw twisted into something that was supposed to be a grin. "Perhaps you should cherish what little time you have left with that pet you call a son. With this creature, I can obliterate the fear of dragons once and for all."

"All but your own, of course," I said, glancing behind him at the living god-of-dragons standing in wait.

"Why, of course," Drago said. " _I_ am now the master of them all."

"And what makes you so sure of that?" I asked, shifting my feet to spring.

Stormfly screeched.

Just as the black Nadder had done all those nights ago, Stormfly closed her talons around Hiccup's arms and spirited him away into the sky. Unlike before, relief rather than horror consumed me. They took a sharp turn and flung themselves back towards the broken-shell nest, far away from the men swarming the bloodied beaches.

A green blur, and the Zippleback carrying the twins swept upon us.

One moment, Toothless was there—the next, gone.

"Catch ya later!" Tuffnut's voice carried on the wind. I spotted the other teenagers and their dragons giving chase. One dragon was left above, a stranger sitting on his back.

Drago had scarcely a moment to realize what had happened before I was upon him. He jolted away, lifting his bullhook to meet my sword. I glanced the heavy metal away and thrust my shield out, landing a hit onto his arm. It impacted like it would a stone—and just as I realized that the arm was a prosthetic, Drago lunged for me.

I parried the blow and, again, struck out with my shield to his crippled side. It glanced off the armor of his shoulder, sending him a step back, and I rushed him. He got his footing about him and lurched away, keeping his bad side away from me, and took several steps backwards. He squared himself a safe distance from me, lifting his eyes for a brief moment towards the god-of-dragons standing statue-still behind him.

"Coward!" I snarled. "How can a leader of an army be so unwilling to hold his own in a fight?"

Drago smirked. "I've far more important things to do." He pointed at me with his bullhook and hailed the god-of-dragons, " _FINISH HIM!_ "

The god-of-dragons rumbled, its blank eyes fixated in front of it. Drago's triumphant sneer faded.

"Master of them all?" I said. "That creature there seems to be taking your place."

He was far too calm in the face of the revelation—this possibility had not escaped him, it seemed. With a grunt, he whipped towards the creature.

Drago _screamed_ , flailing his bullhook about in a wide circle that prevented my advance. He lifted his foot and slammed it down upon the creature's head. It let out a muffled shriek, squirming against its bindings, its crystalline eyes all but glowing with fear and suffering. At first its eyes laid on mine, as if begging for help. Then it risked a peek up at Drago, only to flinch away when he hunched over to stare it down.

The creature wasn't Hiccup. I knew that as sure as I held my sword in my hand, as sure as the stench of blood and death wafted through the cold air.

Yet I still lunged for Drago, knowing, despite all reason, despite all logic, that this creature that resembled my son so much needed my protection, too.

One step forward—and someone grabbed me from behind and yanked me backwards. I whipped around and lashed out with my sword, but they'd already ducked away from my strike.

Bertha cackled, her ropes still hanging at her wrists—and in her palm, a small dagger she must have hidden away on her. It must have taken her the entire battle just to weasel it out and set herself free.

"Thought ya could get rid 'a me, huh?" She bragged. She whipped towards Drago, who was still standing over the creature. " _I_ was tha one ta get ya his demon son! The coward Eret fled away with 'em, but it's _me_ that should be gettin' the payment!"

I lifted my sword an inch—and she scrambled backwards, huddling close to Drago and his men.

"Yer a fool, Stoick!" Bertha laughed. "While ya sit here and let yerself get surrounded, yer whole island is wide open!" She turned to Drago and sent him a proud smirk. "I sent my men and allies after Berk, just as ya asked. And now, I think I've done quite enough of yer dirty work for ya. I'll be havin' my payment now."

Despite my greatest efforts not to show it, I stiffened.

There were times in battle where staying for the sake of honor and glorious death placed the ones you loved in great danger. There were times that retreat was the only option, no matter how much it burned, no matter how many insults were flung at one's back. There were times when the heavy weight of shame was outweighed even more so by the knowledge that those you cared for would be safe.

This was one of those times.

Bertha had sent her tribe and allies to Berk.

I glanced about me for an easy escape, taking quick notice that Drago's men had clustered to watch and closed off all routes. Just above, that stranger and his dragon still hovered. The stranger was pointing wildly downwards, his desperate voice just a breath on the wind. Every few moments, the dragon would swerve back towards the broken nest, only for the stranger to raise his voice and desperately tug at it.

"Payment?" Drago mused, drawing my attention back to him. His men around him sent wide-eyed looks to each other.

Bertha shrugged. "Perhaps that big beastie behind ya." She casually cut away at the rest of her bindings, but made sure to keep the madman in the corner of her eyes. "Seein' as ya got yer…what did ya call it? Yer 'source'? I don't think you'll have much use of it now. I'll even settle fer somethin' smaller, or maybe a fleet 'a ships and some weaponry. Ya know, ta get my village back up on its feet after _his son_ destroyed it with all his raids."

She spat the last part at me. I kept my expression statue-still and allowed myself a small victory at how clearly this agitated her.

Drago chuckled. He pressed his foot one last time into the creature, which avidly avoided his gaze. "Oh, but Bertha…" He stepped towards her. "Your payment was protection from my men."

Drago towered above her, casting a dark shadow over her.

"Now hurry along and make yourself useful. Perhaps you can finish him off while I handle _my_ Bewilderbeast."

Bertha gaped at him, mouth working soundlessly for several seconds before she found her voice. "That—that wasn't our deal!" She shrieked, outraged. "My men's hands fer resources!"

"Is protection not the greatest of resources?" Drago leaned in close and lowered his voice. "You are a means to an end, and I have that end." He bared his teeth in a gruesome grin, his hair and cloak casting streams of darkness about her. He began to stalk a slow circle around her and growled, "Now, you have two choices. Follow me, and keep your tribe safe from my men when we go to retrieve Berk's dragons. And do keep in mind that I've had you send your men to Berk for this reason. Or…"

He pressed the tip of his bullhook just at the nape of her neck. Bertha scowled, clenching her fists as lines of fury crossed her face.

I began to creep backwards, inch by inch.

"…revolt against me, and face the fate that your companion Eret did." Drago turned around and looked directly at the stranger. Both man and dragon lurched backwards in surprise, drawing an amused snort from their former master. "You may draw breath yet, but do your men?"

The stranger—Eret, apparently—sat up straighter on his dragon. "You're—you're lying!" He cried. "I saw my men, you're lying!"

Drago motioned with his bullhook. I tensed, turning just to the side so that I could face both him and the nest.

With a screech, the dragon whirled and sped away—just as nets filled the space it had once occupied. I seized the chance, twisting on my heel and barreling through the weak opposition behind me.

Their attention had been stretched too thin between their leader, the god-of-dragons, Bertha, Eret, and the source. In standing idle and keeping my tongue still, I had sunken below enough of their awareness for them to almost forget that I had been standing right in their midst. As I had thought, they were poor underlings indeed, controlled only through fear rather than loyalty.

Their fear meant that their main focus would always be on Drago, and not where a _good_ leader would keep it: their opposition.

" _Strike him down!_ " Drago roared.

Who he meant, I wasn't ready to stay and find out. I barreled through the men as they scrambled, knocking all who dared come forward aside with sword and shield. Glancing above, I caught sight of the colorful dragon and Eret weaving through the air, the last free dragon and free man of Drago's prison, fighting fang and claw just to stay a second more in the sky.

A warrior—if he could even be called that—stepped in front of me. He lifted a shaking axe. I glanced the blow, grabbed him, and threw him at another "warrior" manning a net-launcher. The two collided just as the machine unloaded, and the net swerved far low, entangling in another machine just a ways away.

I kept running and running, until I was so far into the army that the men surrounded me knew not who I was. Glancing behind, I could see a few scrambling at me, shouting as they tried to outrun me.

My son needed me. They would not meet their mark.

I swung around a pillar of ice, ducked under a machine, took a sharp turn through some heavy artillery being packed up, and slogged through the ever-rising lake of blood. It sloshed like a morbid tide, and I shuddered to see shapes shifting about beneath its surface. The sharp copper scent pierced my nose and mouth, made all the worse by the smoke lingering in the air. It stung at my eyes just as fiercely as pain streaked through my legs, but I ran on anyways, flinging myself across the beach, desperate to find a way towards that broken refuge that I had seen Hiccup and Toothless carried off to.

Now the shouting was distant. I ran past an enormous pillar of ice, and in its reflection, I could still see the lone dragon and rider swooping about. The ice surrounding me suddenly lit up in a fierce golden blaze, followed by a blast of heat that prickled at my neck.

The screeching suddenly rose in volume. I skidded to a stop, spun around, and readied my sword.

" _Incoming!_ " Eret shouted, his dragon opening its maw wide and readying all of its talons at me.

The ground lurched underneath me. I was snatched into the air.

We flung skywards as if sailing on the god's winds. The army shrunk in size in moments. Any and all thought of wrenching free was abandoned as quickly as the ground dipped deathly-far below.

I had one last chance to see the army stretching to the horizon, half of its armada up in flames and crushed, the smoke billowing into the sky, the dead god-of-dragons spilling its lifeblood onto the beach as its kin stared blankly towards us.

Just before ducking into the ice caverns of the nest, I could have sworn that I could still make out the unearthly creature's lost eyes, just as it was coated in shadows.

 **o.O.o**

The broken nest was filled with indigo-blue light, the subtle greens and vivid blues dulled beneath a carpet of darkness. The only light entering the cavern came from the cracks in its shell, spilling sunlight grayed and dull by fog in weak beams. Dust and dirt flickered in those dying rays of light, kicked up in all the chaos.

Outside, the sounds of war could still be heard. Ships groaned, machines creaked, men screamed and shouted commands.

This was a nest of dragons. A human could not simply _climb_ in. Or, at least…I _hoped_ so.

The dragon dropped me unceremoniously to the ground, landed, and made a big show of cleaning its paws. Halfway through, it suddenly remembered that it had a rider and shook its body so vigorously that he was thrown several feet back. With a prim snort and a leer, the dragon lifted its delicate muzzle to the sky and trotted away.

" _Chief!_ "

Ruffnut, Tuffnut, and Fishlegs ran around the dragon like fish darting past a stone, all rushing towards me. A volley of questions rose to me as I lurched to my feet, wincing and testing my shoulders after having been dragged through the air so violently.

"So you're the boy's father? How did you even get here?" Eret said as he, too, got to his feet.

"Where's Gobber and everyone else?" Fishlegs demanded.

"That was totally awesome, Uncle Stoick!" Snotlout whooped. "Can you teach me that move later?"

"Are you planning on riding a dragon?" Tuffnut asked. "Because, hate to break it to you, but we're fresh out."

"You can ride with us, if ya don't mind!" Ruffnut volunteered. "We could blow stuff up, too!"

I took a deep breath and cut through the clamor, "Where is Hiccup?"

All of them stopped. As one, they turned and pointed in the direction the colorful dragon had headed off. The dragon glanced over its shoulder as I rushed forward, shifting aside with a startled yelp.

Toothless was catatonic, his legs ramrod-straight, one wing limp on the ground and the other half-raised, his tail stretched out limp behind him. He thrummed, his entire body vibrating with it, and blinked slowly at some unseen reality.

Beneath that half-raised wing was Hiccup, being held upright by Astrid as she gently shook him.

"Hiccup? Hiccup! C'mon, don't do this to us. Snap out of it, you idiot!" Astrid hissed. "I'm serious! Don't make me get Stormfly to try to fix you!"

Far off to the side, Stormfly lowered her head and shrunk away, trying to hide behind Meatlug.

"Maybe we can punch it outta him…?" Snotlout half-suggested, stepping over himself. He held his hair in his hands and bit his lip. Looking uneasily to me, he said, "I-I mean, it's worth a shot at this point, right?"

Astrid rattled him. The limp way his body swayed with the movement sent nausea ramming into my stomach.

"Hiccup!" I wheezed, closing the short gap between us. With one hand, I took him from Astrid, holding him up by his back. With the other, I twisted towards his companion and placed an unsteady hand on him. "Toothless…?"

Neither budged. I turned back towards my son and grasped his shoulders with both hands. In the dim light, those blank eyes looked like they belonged to a corpse—and I would have believed it were it not for that steady, songlike hum rising from deep within his chest. The sight still sent my heart hammering, reminding me of the last time I had seen him like this.

Last time, he had died in my arms.

"Hiccup…" I choked, pulling his limp body up and running a hand through his hair. "Gods…I'm so sorry."

"It can be cured," Astrid chattered nervously, but the shaken way she spoke sent doubt plunging into my heart. "It has to be. It's happened before."

For a dragon, I knew this to be true.

But what about Hiccup?

I held him close to my chest, wracking my memories for an answer. I remembered this very sound from those dragons that had stolen some of Berk's own—how it had drawn them in like fireflies to a flame.

"Get...get them separated," I breathed, as much as I loathed to say those words. "Maybe it'll make it easier to help them if they aren't feeding it into each other."

Astrid hesitated, just as reluctant as myself, but got up. "Right, Chief. C'mon, Toothless," she murmured, wrapping her hands around the Night Fury's cheekbones. "C'mon, this way…that's it…"

With Snotlout pushing his rump and Astrid pulling with all her might, Toothless began to take slow, unsteady, almost puppet-like steps away from his other half.

A soft, distant roar came from outside.

Almost at once, Hiccup and Toothless snapped their heads towards the cracks in the shell.

"Grab him!" I'd commanded before Toothless had even opened his wings.

Toothless sprung into the air.

"On it!" Snotlout shouted, leaping at his tail and clamping his arms around the tailfins just in time.

Toothless flapped wildly and fell with Snotlout clinging to him. Snotlout let out an overdramatic groan and nearly lost his grip, but managed to crawl his way onto the Night Fury's tailfins and hold them shut.

At that very moment, Hiccup wrenched about in my arms. Hope sparked in my heart; at least he was doing _something_.

"Keep Toothless down!" I shouted over my shoulder as the teenagers and, for some reason, the colorful dragon ran towards him. I twisted back towards Hiccup and lowered my voice. "Hiccup? Hiccup, listen to me. You're safe. I'm here, and I'm going to keep you safe this time, I promise you. Do you hear me?"

He'd lost weight since I last saw him—a revelation that sent a surge of fury through me. It was frighteningly easy to hold him down. With his wall-eyed stare still fixed outside, he weakly tried to pry me off of him, batting his hands in my general direction. He even tried to kick at me, but the blow was so half-hearted that it was barely noticeable.

Behind me, the teens all chattered among themselves—and a new voice joined in on the humming. I threw a look over my shoulder to see Toothless held down, Astrid holding his head in her lap. The colorful dragon stood just in front of him with limp wings and tail, craning its head so that it was nose-to-nose with Toothless, a soft hum emanating from it.

I twisted back to my son, lifted a palm to his cheek, and forced him to face me. "Hiccup, please," I begged. "I've so much to tell you. So much to say…you wouldn't believe how much Berk has changed in these past few days." I tightened my grip on him. "How much _I've_ changed. I want you to see it, son."

Hiccup stopped struggling, and I heard Toothless do the same.

"I _need_ you to see it," I whispered. "I need you to come back to me."

He blinked and hummed.

Without warning, Toothless _howled._

Out of impulse alone, I clamped Hiccup tight to my chest. Toothless had reared up into the air, teeth and claws and fire readied, his eyes wild. He landed and scrambled backwards, ears pinned, wings flapping, nearly tripping over his own tail as he snarled at some unseen foe.

"Toothless! Toothless! Woah!" Astrid cried, chasing after him and holding her hands up. Toothless lurched away from her grip, and she snatched him just before he got away. "Toothless! It's me! C'mon, snap outta it!"

Toothless panted, eyes wide. His limbs shook as he jerked his head around in desperate search of his surroundings.

His eyes settled on me and glowed with horror in the pale, dim light.

He froze, and with a small, high-pitched keen, he whimpered the sound he used to call Hiccup.

"Toothless, wait—!" Astrid said, leaping in front of him.

With a wail, the Night Fury scrambled across the underbrush, kicking up clouds of dust and dirt that caught the light and glowed faintly in the shadows. It gave him the impression of creating light with his pawsteps, and by the time he skidded to a stop at my side, he'd sent up a sizable cloud through the shadowy, empty nest.

Toothless sniffed and prodded at Hiccup, whimpering and wheezing, and shook his head rapidly. He growled, he whined, he hissed, all in desperation to call out to Hiccup.

All gone ignored.

Toothless' legs rattled so much that he collapsed, his breathing short and wheezing and uneven. He bared his teeth and snarled at nothing, clenching his eyes shut, swinging his head so wildly that his ears flopped about.

Seeing his panic only amplified the lingering sense of wrong, the looming dread of an anticipated attack. I remembered the last time he'd been like this—wearing himself down to the very bones—and took a deep breath.

"Toothless," I said softly, reaching out and putting a hand on his forehead.

Toothless' eyes snapped open, and he almost immediately stilled. We shared a terrified look.

I began to draw my hand away, only for Toothless to growl and stretch his neck towards me. With my hand firmly placed on his forehead, he locked his eyes on Hiccup, took in a calming breath, and began to hum that very same sound that the colorful dragon had just sang.

"Hiccup, please," I whispered, holding them both close. "Don't you see this? We need you here."

He continued to hum. Toothless' song hitched, his fear returning, and I ran my hand over his forehead to keep him calm.

"Come back to us," I breathed. "We've so much to lose without you here."

In those moments, waiting and fighting rising panic, my memories betrayed me. They sent me back to the last time we had been in position—to when Hiccup had finally spoken to me of the deep fear I struck through him, of the horrible illness of the mind I had wrenched upon him.

I sucked in a shaking breath and held him closer, hoping beyond hope that, in that lost world he was in, sunken into infinity as he lay limp in front of us, he knew that I still loved him. That I still needed him.

Hiccup and Toothless thrummed. I tightening my hold on them, struggling to keep my composure.

The nest around us silenced, so deep and strange that it made my ears ring. The war just outside faded, the world narrowed down to this single place, this empty shell-like nest, the warmth of Hiccup and Toothless who, despite it all, had survived to this point, who needed me here just as I needed them.

And, breath by breath, Hiccup began to quiet.

And, inch by inch, he drew his hands up.

And...

The moment stretched on, boundless within time's constraints, both swifter than loss and slower than grief.

Just as my hope had almost left me, just as I had thought my son lost to me, just as my world shattered to pieces at my feet, he returned my embrace.

 **o.O.o**

Hiccup

 _Hm…_

…

…I…

Wha...Where…?

…no…no…

 _Hm…_

…I…no…

Who?

 _Hm—_

I blinked into the consuming fog, suddenly alert—not for the first time—I had barely any time—

 _Hm…_

…

…I…

 **o.O.o**

 _...hiccup…_

Pressure. Darkness. Shaking.

 _Hm…_

…no…

… _hiccup!_...

…No!

There. Again. The fog. Clouded clarity, meandering thoughts, swirling consciousness. No time. There was no time.

… _hiccup, plea—_

 _Hm…_

No…no…no!

A spike of _something_ —a scattering of thoughts like birds frightening away—energy zigzagging through me—pounding, deep within me…what was….what was this…?

 _Hm…_

… _hiccup!..._

…it was fear.

Was it…mine…? What _was_ …me?

Distantly, more shaking, more warmth, more sound swept away within fading streams of awareness.

No time…I remember…no time…

No…I needed to…I had to fight, I had to…I had to…

 _HM…HM…HM…_

No!

A spike of _something_ —a scattering of thoughts like…

Fear. It was fear.

And it wasn't mine.

… _hiccup, do you hear me?…_

I clung to the memory the moment it was whisked away, but it slipped through my fingers like water. No time. It was gone—but _what_ had it been?

 _Who_ had it been?

Blinking useless eyes, I tried to lift an arm and paw at the nothingness, the emptiness…

I remember this…

 _HM…HM…HM…!_

I knew this…I had felt this for so long…

 _...hiccup, please!_

… _hm…hm…hm…!_

Hiccup…that was…

… _hm…hm…hm…_

That was me.

So…who are _you?_

… _hm—_

The fog smothering my thoughts dissipated, leaving me hanging in dark, empty nothingness.

A heartbeat for everything to rush at me at once, for confusion and fear to lunge from the shadows—

… _how…_

I felt its attention on me, tapping its claws at my heart like it was contemplating gouging me with them. I tried to move again, but just like last time, I couldn't even feel or see or smell or hear _anything_. It was all nothing but the _thing_ that had swept me up into this, that had swept thousands of dragons up in this.

Its voice didn't fill my head like the Queen and King had. Instead, it reverberated around and into me, its very essence and desire projecting into this space.

An angry spike, the feeling of blood rushing through my formless body, the hot fury that curled my claws and filled my mouth with flame—

 _Why? Why_ you?

I would have shuddered if I could. It wasn't like I couldn't see or feel, but that _those_ parts of me had simply vanished. That I was nothingness, just as empty as the world I had been flung into.

The weight of the source's anger faded, replaced with light-hearted relief. I felt it almost as my own, and when realization came upon it, the energetic spark that zipped through it did the same to me.

 _Soulfire._

This time, the fear was mine.

 _You know soulfire._

I tried to speak, but I couldn't in this place where I was merely a ghost occupying a shell.

Desperate, eager joy and anger swirled all about me, blending so seamlessly through me that it was hard to tell what was from me and what wasn't. I wanted to clench my eyes shut, clamp my hands over my ears, and just _scream_ to drown it out, but no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't.

Let me go! I tried to shout.

 _Give it back!_

Its very essence whipped around me. All at once, I was pinned down by the horrifying feeling of being watched from all sides, of having hundreds of hateful and malevolent eyes leering down at me, just waiting for the chance to get me. It stalked right out in the open, reckless and confident and powerful.

Why? I returned to it.

Why soulfire? Why the song?

Heart-chilling fear blasted through me, followed quickly by furious and bitter resentment and jealousy. An all-consuming emptiness. The sharp sting of loss. The agony of having lost something that had once defined it.

Even under its spell, I had understood this…I had recognized it.

I did everything I could to brace against it, to bear the familiar pain. It took the source what felt like hours to re-compose itself, to reel back its own traumas so that I could even formulate a response.

… _please…_

So lost, so helpless…there was nothing else it knew besides the fear and anger.

 _Please come to me…please give it back…_

… _I can't be trapped again…_

No matter how hard I tried to hide it, it still felt it. It still felt my empathy for it, my pity for it.

And it got _mad._

Dizzying spikes of jealousy and anger shot through me like hundreds of spines piercing through my flesh. It left me dizzy and breathless, flailing about in that nothingness.

 _WHY YOU?_ _WHY_ YOU?

Under the torrent of hatred, panic sprung from the depths—from both of us. Mine wasn't all that surprising, but the source seemed almost afraid of me—afraid of my ability to break free enough to "see" it, my ability to endure its torment.

It was scared and jealous of me, and not only because I knew soulfire.

 _It's not fair!_

Even without lungs, I was breathless, like my chest was caving in under the force of a heavy paw. I tried to writhe around, to block it out of my very consciousness.

But whatever this place was, it was the _source's_ consciousness—and there was no escaping it.

 _It's not fair!_

Again and again and again it rained its wrath upon me, its fury and resentment and ever-present terror.

I couldn't do it. I couldn't take this forever. It was going to tear my mind apart at this rate!

Stop! I begged it. Please stop!

But the source didn't even know how to. Its wild emotions burst through it without control, leaving it all the more vulnerable and helpless. With a mindless shriek that filled the void, it focused upon me, ripping away at my thoughts in ravenous desperation.

 _Give it back!_

If only I did—and then it would feel whole again, then it would finally have _control_ again, then it would finally heal.

I tried to ward off its presence, its thousands of shapeless eyes. The very effort was exhausting, leaving me fatigued and barely there, and it only added fuel to the fire. The source grew more frenzied, more reckless, less focused on finishing its goal and now lashing out at me in wild, helpless desperation.

It needed control. And it was going to get it.

NO! I shouted. Stop! Please, hold on!

It didn't listen.

I did everything I could to wrench away, but I _couldn't_. I was trapped here, taking blow after blow, and _nothing_ I did would stop it, _nothing_ I said would calm. At once I realized that this was real, that this was happening and hurting me, that it would shred me apart here in its misguided desperation.

Toothless…Dad…

My scattering thoughts began to dissipate, the exhaustion filling my entire being growing all the heavier.

…I'm sorry.

…

…and then there was a light.

The source lurched about me. Anger and fear shot between us.

 _Mh…mh…mh…_

I twisted towards it, throwing myself to it for safety—that song of fullness, of hope, of love.

And I found a voice there.

 _Hiccup, please…come back to us…_

Was...was that…?

 _We've so much to lose without you._

The source _howled_ : _I've lost_ everything!

It tore away at me.

I was already slipping through the cracks. This place was empty—but there was an outside, a shell that could be broken through. Light crept through in jagged spikes, beaming into this dark world, giving me the sensation of sight and sound and touch once more.

In the wake of it, the source cowered in the shadows. I turned my back to it and reached out, out, out—!

Warmth returned to me. The void drifted away like mist swirling into sunlight.

I curled my arms around him and held my breath, almost waiting to get sucked under again, trembling with the effort and fright of breaking away. The physical world around me, filled with suddenly-unfamiliar sensations, didn't seem real.

The arms around me tensed. Then, a choked, relieved voice, "Hiccup?"

My heart spiked. As strange as it was, it took me a moment to remember _how_ to open my eyes, how to lift my head…how to feel in-control.

I met my father's teary eyes.

"Dad…" I croaked. "…hey."

With a laugh that was almost a choked sob, Dad threw himself around me in a massive hug and squeezed me so tightly that I thought I was going to pass out again. "Oh, Hiccup, I—I'm so sorry, I—"

"Dad—choking me—"

"Right, right," he rushed, letting go of me just before I lost consciousness. I sat upright, but he kept a tight grip on me anyways. Even though there was still a lingering fear, his eyes swam with relief and joy. "I thought…I really thought I lost you for good there, son."

"Sorry," I wheezed. "Me, too…"

I trailed off and blinked a few times as everything caught up with me. We were somehow inside the broken nest, the only relief from the darkness being thin rays of light coming in from outside. Someone gave me a sharp poke in the side, and with a startled yelp, I twisted around.

Toothless was right at my side, wriggling with joy. He couldn't contain himself, running a tight circle around Dad and me and then throwing himself into me with a relieved purr. I returned it and pressed my forehead to his, letting myself relax at hearing his familiar voice, feeling his familiar warmth.

" _Hiccup_ ," Toothless breathed. He paused, gave a small sigh...and drew away. " _Talk good_ ," He said, although he looked just as reluctant as I was to separate so soon.

A bolt of nervous energy went through me. Swallowing a lump in my throat, I twisted back towards Dad. He cringed when I returned my gaze to him, almost like he was expecting me to wrench away from him and hiss at him...again. I lowered my head, fighting to keep the guilt swarming me from stealing my voice.

The awkward pause lasted a moment, before we both rushed:

"I'm sorry! What?"

The genuine shock that lit in Dad's eyes only made my guilt all the more crushing. My heart doubled in speed, almost painfully so. "I-I'll go first," I stammered, not so much because I knew what to say, but because I couldn't bear feeling so awful for a second longer.

Dad hesitated, opened his mouth to speak, and then settled on a nod.

"Dad, I…" A shudder went through me, and I closed my eyes and took a deep breath to center myself. A sudden wave of anxiety curled through me. Was he mad? Or worse—was he doing what I always did, taking all of this out on himself? What could I say to fix things? _Could_ I fix things?

I knew the answers to the first couple questions...but not the last. The realization made my mind go blank, leaving me scrabbling around for some way to even begin.

Toothless nosed me to offer support. It was meant to encourage me, but I was so rattled that I took it as a "hurry up" kind of gesture and blurted out the first things that came to my mind in a huge, confusing jumble.

"Dragon of the Sun, Dad, I—I'm sorry about everything that happened right before I was taken. I know you were doing what you thought was best, and I know that I shouldn't have overreacted like I did, and—and I just...I just really want you to know that I—I don't..."

I cut myself short, if only so that I could actually start making sense. Dad waited, eyes still wide with surprise, as I gathered up my scrambling thoughts.

Setting my jaw, I lifted a shaking hand and reached out to him. There was still that slightest bit of fear and hesitation, still the shadows that swarmed in my vision and twisted around my arm in an effort to wrench it back. I grit my teeth and pushed back, letting my hand rest on Dad's arm. My whole body tensed, and with a calming breath, I forced myself to relax.

 _It is fine_ , I told myself.

"I don't hate you," I whispered. I lifted my eyes to my father's. "I'm so—I'm _so_ sorry that I made you feel like that, when you were only trying to protect me."

Dad looked almost like he was caught between beaming and breaking down into tears. "I-I'm sorry, too, son." He grasped my shoulders tight, his chin quivering just slightly enough to be noticeable. "I carry the fault here. I drew you away, I pressured you to be what _I_ wanted. And I hurt you in doing so. It wasn't my place to…to question all of…this." He waved his hands.

The last time he'd said that—just at the cusp of our world being flipped end-over-end—I'd ended up snarling at him for all I was worth. Now he looked at me hopefully, but with a small amount of apprehension as well.

I swallowed as another torrent of guilt crashed into me. After all, there was only one good way to respond to that.

"You just gestured to all of me," I rasped with a small, crooked grin.

Dad's eyes lit up. He pulled me into a hug—a much gentler one this time. "I was worried I never would again," he said, his voice hitching just a little.

The contact still sent a zing of fear through me. It was quickly overcome by relief that it wasn't consuming me, by shocked disbelief that I was actually able to _do_ this without being dredged through my past…by happiness, that I could find comfort in my own father instead of cold fear and sharp anxiety. A light tingling buzzed in my chest, filling me with bouncy energy. I let a small purr escape me—one I very quickly realized Dad could hear. With a blush, I leaned forward and pressed my forehead against his chest.

"I...I really missed you," I laughed, although I wasn't really sure why. "I don't know how you did it, but I'm so glad you're here."

"I missed you too, son." Dad gave a light, somewhat humorless chuckle. "You have to stop scaring me like this, alright? I don't know how much more of it I can take."

With another choked laugh, I curled up closer him. "I won't," I promised. Closing my eyes, I murmured almost too quiet to hear, "I can't take it anymore, either."

Toothless purred, nosing his way into our embrace. With an amused huff, Dad put a hand on his forehead. Toothless actually tolerated it and _returned_ the gesture, reciprocating for a brief moment before drawing back. I shot him a grin, and he snorted and rolled his eyes like it was no big deal.

For a moment...everything was okay. It was a foreign feeling, something that made me want to look over my shoulder to check for something horrible lying in wait.

I knew that dread should be leaping from the shadows, wrapping me up in folds of fear and confusion at what had just happened. I knew that I should be terrified for what was to come, now that Drago had the source, now that I knew what the nature of the source was. I knew that I should feel hopeless, with all the dragons taken under the song, with Drago the master of their captor.

Yet the chaos around us had ceased, if only for a heartbeat. In that precious moment, I was able to feel safe...and maybe even a little bit of happiness.

Before, the broken links between us had been avoided, and we had both been pulling with all our might in opposite directions. Now the snapped bonds had been tended to, carefully guided from one end back to the other. There might have still been broken links still waiting to be mended...but...

Despite it all, despite the shadows that still lingered, beams of light still pierced into this broken eggshell-nest.

There was hope.


	24. Chapter 23

**Hello, everyone! I have an announcement to make this chapter, so please read this author's note!**

 **Before I go on, though, I first want to thank quaddles, AthosRanoxy, Flopy, saddmann, Siganna, Nacktgranate, Blindhawk, Viperclaw14, T-thenightfury, FyrandTheGryffinclaw, TheWhisperingWarrior, NightShadow9558, Elt-1080, Alexisminas, Varghul, Brenne, Samateus-Taal, Surprise Crayfish, CrisDLZ, and Crysist for all of your amazing reviews! I managed to respond to them again as well! And, of course, I'd like to thank my beta Crysist for all your hard work on this chapter!**

 **So, onto my announcement! Echoed Songs has always been something that I have poured all of my heart into writing. In the short time it has been published, it has received a massive amount of kindness and support. And that truly means so much to me. One of my main goals in writing is to have an impact in some shape or form...and more importantly, for it to have** _ **meaning.**_ **So all of your support means the world to me.**

 **I want to show my appreciation to you guys in some way or another, and with the 500 reviews landmark coming up fast, I thought there would be no better time to do so. So, when 500 reviews gets accomplished, everyone** _ **who PMs me on here or Tumblr**_ **within a week of that landmark will have a free sketch/lineart request from me. You can check out my Tumblr or DeviantArt accounts to see examples of my art.**

 _ **Please do not leave reviews with requests. I will ignore them.**_ **I do not want to inflate my review count with this, but I wanted to let you all know in advance in case you needed time to think about your request/to increase awareness of it in advance instead of just dropping it on you guys. I have put more info about it in my bio, including general rules of what I will or will not do.**

 **Alright, that took some time...sorry about that! As always, thoughts/comments/criticisms are always greatly appreciated! I hope you all have a great day!**

* * *

 **Chapter 23**

Hiccup

The happy reunion lasted _roughly_ five minutes.

Just as sudden as a foghorn cutting through a still morning, a booming screech erupted from outside. With started yelps, everyone leapt to their feet and rushed to form a circle, preparing to face an invasion from any direction. As I lurched to my feet, Dad clamped one hand on my shoulder and another on Toothless.

It was unmistakable: the wail of the source as it struggled to incapacitate those around it—a last, futile grasp at control. The nest more or less protected us from the ear-splitting screech, muffling it just enough that we weren't deafened all over again.

" _No…_ " the Color-Shifter whimpered. He inched step-by-step towards the cracks in the nest, ducking below the brilliant beams of light piercing into the darkness. Hidden away in the shadows, he peeked out at the beaches, his wings and tail limp across the wreckage of his nest.

Sharing a concerned look between Toothless and my father, I began to step after him. The Color-Shifter didn't even notice me as I shoulder up just besides him, Toothless flanking him on his other side. Standing on my toes, I managed to peek through the cracks in the nest into the outside world.

The armies had retreated off of the blood-lake that was now the beaches and back to their ships. On an unheard command, the ships rattled, foam sprayed and bubbled between them…and the bleak armada began to creep away from the crimson sand, trudging its way through the ice and back into the black ocean.

The young King stood alone, his blank, glazed eyes seemingly fixated on us. He slowly twisted around to follow the lurching armada, taking sluggish steps back into the ocean. The very few song dragons that had been lucky enough to stay "free" fluttered after him, hovering above the ships like giant seagulls.

" _No…_ " The Color-Shifter said again, wide eyes locked on his nestmate's retreating forms. He went rigid, and then cried, " _Four-Wing!_ "

Just above the armada, I caught a glimpse of him: the enormous Four-Wing, swaying and drifting above the waves. The moment his brilliant orange scales caught my eyes, he swept straight over a ship—and a net launched into the air, coiled around him, and dragged him down to the deck.

Before I could even gasp or _think_ to try to help, the same fate soon befell the rest of the Color-Shifter's nestmates. They were attracted to the source—and the source was on the armada, leading them straight to capture.

Within seconds, of this enormous nest, home to the ancient dragon King that had driven Sphere from the north, the Color-Shifter was the _only_ one left.

The Color-Shifter took a few steps backwards, shaking his head with frantic disbelief. He opened his wings as if he would launch after them right then and there, only to stop, clenching his jaw painfully tight. With his eyes still locked onto the shadow-nest, he collapsed, his wings crumpling across the rubble. He let out a choked, helpless, despairing whine, and although I didn't catch the word-for-word translation, I understood its meaning close to my heart:

 _I am alone._

" _No_ ," I said. I stepped over to him and pressed my side against his. " _We are here._ "

Toothless padded to the Color-Shifter's other side, his eyes half-lidded and his ears and side-frills drooping. He wasn't so touchy-feely, but he did stand closer than normal and murmured some small comforts.

The Color-Shifter didn't even look at us. His dull, grieved eyes remained locked outside.

" _Color-Shifter_ ," I murmured, crouching down to be closer to his eye level and leaning hard against him. " _Breathe. It is fine. It will be fine._ "

With visible effort, he inched his wistful stare away, meeting my eyes. The hope that lit up in them sent guilt plunging into my heart; even now, he had faith in us, when we had _failed_ him and his nest. With a soft moan, he lifted his head and gave a subtle nod. One last time, he turned back towards the cracks in his nest, eyes drawn to the remnants of his nestmates. Toothless and I grimaced at each other before, like insects drawn to a flame, we found ourselves staring back out at the shadow-nest.

The three of us spared a moment peering out at our former prison, into our pasts, into the futures of the dragons that were now trapped there.

I couldn't bear the sight for long. I turned my back to it and faced our hodge-podge group. "We have to do something," I rasped, gesturing out at the retreating armies. "We can't just…we can't just let Drago carry off an _entire_ nest _and_ the source."

"Especially _the source,_ " Toothless growled, turning away from the armada as well. The Color-Shifter continued to watch the slow retreat of the shadow-nest.

"Let's go after them, then!" Eret said, his voice high with desperation. "It's probably still chaos on that armada—we can still find my men!"

"How?" Astrid said. She put a hand on Stormfly, who was lying down next to her and staring at Toothless, the Color-Shifter, and I with confusion. " _All_ of our dragons are exhausted."

"Yeah, if you didn't notice, we kinda just got our asses handed to us," Snotlout grumbled.

Eret shook his head. "No," he said stubbornly. "We can still do... _something._ Anything!" Turning turmoiled eyes to Toothless and me, he almost begged us, "What was that weird glowing thing you did out there? I could feel the heat from that fire from hundreds of feet below—can't we use _that?_ "

I shook my head, the guilt weighing down my heart becoming all the heavier. But before I could speak, Dad interrupted me.

"And who are you? One of Drago's lackeys?" he demanded. He scrutinized Eret, shifting ever-so-slightly so that he was completely facing him. His eyes narrowed. "You must be a fool if you truly think we'd hand ourselves over like that."

Eret scoffed, wholly offended. "I am Eret, son of Eret!" he seethed. His eyes, too, were drawn outside—and then the anger rushed out of him, deflating him like an old sac. Clenching his hands, he dropped his head and moaned, "Lousiest captain alive."

Dad glanced at Toothless and me. When we both nodded, he straightened out of his stance and turned to Eret with a much less hostile expression. Eret glared at him, but I could tell his heart wasn't in it.

His voice echoed hollowly in the empty, dark nest. "What now, then?" He rolled his shoulders with a humorless laugh. "You're right, lass, we can't just go strollin' up to Drago with a handful of dragons and expect to save everyone! See what good I do for them!"

"Eret," I spoke up. "It's not your fault."

"They are _my_ men, _my_ responsibility," he growled. " _I_ dragged them into this mess, and I'm the one who's got to get them out of it."

"We may not be able to," Dad sighed. He pinched the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes, a gesture that was usually reserved for when _I_ did something incredibly stupid and he was trying to figure out how to knock some sense into my head.

Something about the way he spoke sent anxiety shooting through my limbs. "What do you mean?" I asked.

Dad paused. With another sigh, he faced everyone and set us with a stern, solemn look. "There's no easy way to say it. Drago plans to head to Berk. Bertha apparently sent her men and allies there, and if they aren't in our waters now, they will be soon."

Toothless and I froze, sharing a horrified look. On impulse alone, both of us stepped close to each other, as if reassuring each other that we were still together.

Everyone else promptly freaked out.

"Wait, _what?!_ " Astrid and the others exclaimed all at once. Even Meatlug stiffened, her eyes huge and ears sticking straight up.

"Oh great! What're we gonna do?!" Snotlout shouted. He began to pace in a circle, tearing at his hair so much that Hookfang tried to nose his hands away.

"We're dead. So very, very dead," Fishlegs whimpered. "I don't need to run calculations to know that our defenses can't counter _that_ armada."

"So what, my men get put as last priority now?" Eret snapped. "It was _me_ who saved your boy from that armada, you know! If it weren't for me, he'd still be sittin' in a cage!"

 _That_ caught Dad's attention. "Alright, alright, enough!" He shouted. He stepped closer into the semi-circle everyone had formed, meeting every eye. "All of you, pull yourselves together! We can't give up before the battle has even started. We need to focus on this one step at a time." Facing Eret, he said, "You've made a lot of sacrifices for us. We will find your men."

Eret blinked with surprise at the confident, no-nonsense way my father said that—as if it was a matter of _deciding_ to save his lost crewmates. Shaking himself off, he grunted, "Well, it's good to know _some_ of you have some sense."

Dad set him with a look before turning to Toothless and me. "We need to know what we're up against. What _was_ that…that _thing?_ "

I hunched my shoulders. The very thought of it—the memory of that place it had taken us—sent a shudder down my spine.

"The King called it the source," I sighed wearily. Toothless leaned into me, and I pressed close to him. "I don't know _what_ it is. It's…" I pawed at the air, as if I could snatch the proper words out of the glowing clouds of dust lingering in the nest. "It's _not_ a dragon. Not completely, at least. It's…it's…"

" _A god?_ " Toothless suggested. At my flabbergasted expression, he shrugged and growled, " _Why else it need soulfire?_ "

" _To be whole_ ," I answered instinctively—only to cut myself short, surprised, at how the thought had even crossed my mind.

"Norse, Hiccup?" Astrid reminded me gently, although she was tense and bouncing on her feet nervously. Stormfly nosed her worriedly, and she looped an arm around her head.

"R-Right, sorry," I stammered. "Toothless…thinks it might be some sort of god, or at least related to them. Whatever it is, it's obsessed with soulfire."

"The fire of the gods," Dad whispered. "I remember you explaining it to me back when you were still working on your projects. But why does it need _that?_ And…why did it…" He grimaced now. A dull pang went through my chest as I braced myself for the inevitable question:

"Why did it look so much like you?"

Having eleven pairs of eyes turn as one to stare at you wasn't exactly encouraging. I grimaced as each and every single person and dragon focused completely on me.

"…I don't _know_ ," I said, leaning closer into Toothless and staring down at my feet.

I couldn't keep the frustration from my voice. The hint of jealousy that, despite everything I had done to move on, still lingered there. The image of the source's "body" flashed in my mind's eye—looking so, so much like what I had lost that it _hurt._ That it made me _angry_ , to see something I wanted more than anything plopped right in front of me, just out of reach.

For all the lengths I had gone coming to terms with everything, all it took was that _one_ sight to rip open these wounds that had only just begun to heal.

" _It is fine_ ," Toothless murmured. " _Hiccup good._ "

With a deep breath, I forced myself to look up at them. At the solemn way Toothless, Dad, and Astrid looked at me. At the confused pity from Snotlout, Fishlegs, and the twins. At the disbelief in Eret's eyes.

"It's _not_ me," I said, feeling more than a little weird about having to clarify it. More of a prayer now, I said, "And it's not...what I used to be…?"

My voice trailed off, something that was meant to be confident now becoming more of a question that nobody could answer. That _I_ could answer.

Because...we _didn't_ know what it was. We _didn't_ know why the otherworldly creature looked _just_ enough like a dragon to look like _me._ Or, rather, how I had so desperately _wanted_ to be for months.

I didn't even want to think about the possibility of it somehow being...me, but not-me. That it was, by some extension, _myself_ causing all of this pain and suffering.

The jealous, yearning stare it had searing into me burned in my mind's eye.

"Hiccup?"

I jumped. "Wha?"

Everyone was still staring at me, although now they were a lot more concerned.

"You spaced out," Astrid said. Eyes big and concerned, she pressed, "So we were talking about...the source?"

"Right...right," I stammered. Toothless pressed close to me with a comforting purr, and it was enough to ground me. I took a moment to collect my thoughts. "All...all I know is that it thinks it can use soulfire to heal itself," I said. "And it's lost all reason now. It's out of control and can barely even keep a hold on its own emotions. It's…lost. And scared." I glanced behind us, back towards the cracks in the nest. "Really scared."

" _Wait,_ " Toothless said slowly. " _How do you know this?_ "

I thought of that formless place the source had taken me and shuddered. "It talked to me. It tried to control me, but I guess…I guess me being like _this_ ," I gestured at myself, "actually saved me from _all_ of it. I was able to break through, and once it realized that, it gave up trying to take me over and tried to convince me to give it soulfire."

"But, Hiccup," Fishlegs interrupted. He looked away for a moment and cringed. "Why…why was it able to take you over at _all?_ "

"Yeah, I'm not exactly caught up to speed on your whole…thing," Eret said. "Pretending to be a dragon is well and good, but how could you get infected with a _dragon_ mind disease?"

In the corner of my eye, Dad shot me a wide-eyed look. "That's enough," he snapped. "What matters is—"

"No," I said. "It's...it's a good question."

Dad's eyebrows shot up. I held my arms to my chest and ducked my head a bit. To escape meeting his stare, I turned to Toothless, as if _he_ would know any more than me.

He looked just as confused and concerned as my father. But there was something else there, too, something that I myself felt, even if it did make me feel more than a little guilty. It was an almost kind of grim satisfaction. Like this horrible thing that had happened to us had, in a way, proven something that had plagued us for weeks. That I was still _really_ a dragon in some ways.

I turned back to everyone. My heart picked up speed as I looked to each person one by one until I finally settled on Dad. He looked concerned and frightened all at once, although his eyes had the same knowing glint that Toothless had.

"I'm not _only_ human," I said. Holding Dad's wary gaze, I offered a small, sad smile. "Just like I'm not _only_ dragon."

Toothless pressed close to me with a purr. " _And that is good._ "

I leaned close, resting my head against his. It took me a moment, but I managed to return, "… _it is._ " My words were soft and solemn, but still…close to accepting. The shadow of my mind writhed about for a foothold, eager to fill me with doubt and self-hate and longing for the past, but it wasn't so hard to shake loose this time.

There was a surprised, kind-of awkward silence as everyone struggled to come up with something to say.

Toothless, as per the usual, tolerated it for less than a second.

" _Ugh! Translate, Hiccup?_ " He groaned, nudging me. Then he turned to my father and began to _speak_ to him. " _Our nestmates are in danger now that the shadow-human has the source. We need to fly before he finds Berk. We need to warn us nestmates, and protect our nest. Maybe fly flares around shadow-nest to confuse him?_ "

I translated—to the rising astonishment of Eret. Dad was surprised for a moment, too, but then began to stroke his beard thoughtfully.

"So you want to send out decoys?" He clarified, to which Toothless nodded. "It would need to be a pretty large group to catch their attention. Berk doesn't have all that many dragons to spare."

Astrid turned to Eret and said, "You worked for Drago. How fast does that armada move? Does it have any weak points?"

Eret's eyes hardened with determination, all business now. "It'll move slower without the Bewilderbeast connected to it," he said. "That'll buy us some time. Right now, they must have whipped the Sharkworms into sprints to get it movin'. Infected dragons can still be lead if you push them hard enough. Literally." He put a hand to his chin and hummed. "But looking for weak points is pointless. You were right before—the moment they see us near their airspace, we're done in. It was stupid to even _think_ to go flyin' after them."

"What if we go after the Sharkworms?" Fishlegs suggested. "Keep the armada from moving at all?"

"I call dibs on diving underwater to fight a sea dragon!" Tuffnut shouted.

Snotlout rolled his eyes and drawled, " _Ooor,_ what if we evacuate Berk? Drago can't take the dragons or kill anyone if nobody's home."

" _He would wait there for us_ ," Toothless said. Baring his teeth, he growled, " _We have to fight. I am tired of running away from him!_ "

As I translated this, I found my own voice rising with determination. "And _I_ am, too," I added. "And we're going about this all wrong. We're just dancing around the problem right now. We need to get to the heart of it."

I stopped for a second and hunched my shoulders. A loosely-formed plan took hold in my thoughts, one that already made my heat pick up its pace and my breath a little harder to catch. It dropped a cold, heavy weight in my stomach, pinning me to the ground. My legs lost their strength in sync with my wavering resolve, but I forced myself to stand upright, on my own, and rise a little taller. I turned to Toothless with half-lidded eyes.

"We have to go back."

 **o.O.o**

The fog was gone.

It was eerie to fly over the remnants of the battlefield with the sun shining bright upon it, left exposed like a healing wound that had been ripped open. I tried not to look at the shimmering pools of blood, the sharp reflections of the twisted metal wreckage, the still-blazing fires…the corpses. I could almost taste fear-scent wafting through the air, making my stomach roil.

Toothless growled anxiously, wrinkling his nose at the carnage below. " _It is fine_ ," he said for the both of us.

We darted over the King's body, so oddly still and broken, his old white scales painted crimson. He looked... _deflated_ , almost, like a limp toy. I had to look away, putting a hand over my mouth to try keep the copper stench of his blood from nauseating me any more.

" _It is fine_ ," I murmured, forcing my eyes away.

Almost against my will, I settled on looking out at the horizon. Drago's armada was just barely there, sinking below the ocean like a black sun. It had been moving slower than it had previously, but it was still far too fast to catch up with on Dad's ship.

We swept out along the beaches, craning our necks and scanning the chaos below. The bloodied beaches had transformed into a graveyard of ships, with jagged splinters thrown across the slick, red pebbles. Ships lilted and swayed and lurched unsteadily. Masts were snapped in two, fires eating away at any dry wood it could find. Quite a few were sticking straight up in the air, the ocean bubbling around them as it sucked them down into its maw.

In front of us, Stormfly flapped off of what _looked_ like a promising ship and twirled towards us with Astrid and Eret settled on her shoulders. As she swayed past, she chirped something cheerful along the lines of " _Hi, Kings!_ "

At the very same time, Astrid shouted, "No luck!"

Toothless glanced over his shoulder behind me. " _Are you certain about this? That was many times now._ "

" _I know_ ," I sighed. " _But there has to be something, right?_ "

" _I doubt it_ ," Toothless groaned, dropping his head and legs. " _This is bad. The shadow-nest is very far now. All our nestmates are in danger, and the shadow-nest is too fast._ "

"Your optimism never fails to cheer me up," I said. Toothless shot me a fake glare and slapped me with his ear, and I immediately tugged at it.

We continued our desperate search for _something_ that we could use. With every bad turnout, I grew more and more anxious, nervous energy bubbling in my chest. Doubt leapt at my weakness ravenously, filling my thoughts with visions of Berk razed to the ground, the people and dragons all turned to slaves, the island a black char by the time we'd finally made it back.

I pressed closer to Toothless. He purred and pushed his head back towards mine.

" _Hiccup!_ " Snotlout shouted, startling both of us out of it. "Over here!"

Snotlout and Hookfang were hovering above a ship close to the outer edges of where the armada had beached. The ship had been positioned awkwardly; its bow was still in the water, and its starboard was facing the beach. Dad was already there, standing on the shoreline and inspecting what he could of it.

Toothless swiveled on a hair—nearly throwing me off in his haste—and got there in seconds. We drew into a hover just next to Hookfang, several dozen feet above a small-ish ship.

A happy squawk, and Stormfly shoved her way to our direct right. Meatlug buzzed up to our left with Fishlegs, very clearly annoyed at Stormfly's choice of position, and Barf and Belch and the twins landed next to Dad. A few seconds passed, and the Color-Shifter reluctantly made his way over and stopped a considerable distance from us, shooting funny looks at Eret and Stormfly.

"Is this one good?" I asked, peering down at the ship. It looked almost like a huge Viking longboat, small and narrow with a hull that didn't seem to be filled with water. It looked a little rough for wear, with almost its entire exterior charred black. It had one large sail, and said sail's mast was cracked and bent at a slight angle.

"Oh, I have no idea," Snotlout said. "But look what Hookfang found! He's really good at seeing these things!"

Snotlout pointed down at the waters near the front of the ship. I squinted down at it, wishing, not for the first time, that my senses were what they used to be.

Toothless jolted and hissed, " _Sea dragon there!_ "

All the other dragons let out yelps and growls of surprise. Hookfang nearly puffed up twice his size, he was so proud.

Now that I knew what to look for, I could see it. A black and white sea dragon, their narrow nose just barely poking out of the water. The ocean was still so saturated with blood that their form was almost impossible to see. The only indication that they were there was a slight rippling of the water.

There was a chain attached to them, dangling limp off of the tip of the bow.

Toothless quickly barked a command to our nestmates: _Go look for others._ Our nestmates let out cries of understanding and darted off, much to the surprise and indignation of their humans.

"Uh, sorry!" I shouted after all of them. "Look for other sea dragons!"

"Oh, thanks for keepin' us updated!" Eret threw sarcastically over his shoulder. His voice began to drift farther and farther away, "I'm so glad that we have a say in…"

Toothless rolled his eyes and took us a little bit closer—and then began to wildly flap away. " _It is singing!_ " he snarled.

My heart dropped and I bared my teeth. It was _scary_ that the source's influence reached this far away from itself. " _We need to help_ ," I said. " _Or they will die here._ "

The Color-Shifter had drifted a little closer, too. The second he heard the faint rumblings of the song, he turned tail and shot upwards as fast as he could with a panicked shout.

From below, Dad yelled, "Hiccup, what is it? Is something wrong?"

" _No_ —" I began, and then stopped myself with a sheepish grimace. "I mean, it's not something we can't handle."

Dad narrowed his eyes, glancing between me, Toothless, and the now-extremely-wary Color-Shifter. "Is the sea dragon infected?" he demanded. "Both of you, come over here!"

"We can help them!" I said. "We can't just leave them here! They'll just sit there until they die!"

Dad sighed so loudly that I heard him from dozens of feet above him. He pinched the bridge of his nose and held his elbow in his hand. "Hiccup, the moment you get close to it, you can be taken up as well. We'll find another way to help it."

" _No,_ _I agree_ ," Toothless said with an exaggerated nod. " _They might help._ " He took a breath and began to sing the counter-song as loud as he could, inching bit by bit a little lower.

I joined in as well, and as I did, I looked up at the Color-Shifter and pawed at the air in a "come over here" gesture. The Color-Shifter hesitated a _lot_ , but still descended while singing his own counter-song.

It was three counter-songs versus one regular song. That seemed like pretty good odds to me.

"Hiccup!" Dad said in a warning tone. "It isn't going to work! Don't make me come up there!"

Toothless actually had a chuckle at that. I batted at his ears and stopped singing just long enough to say, "Dad, it'll be—wait."

Toothless looked back at me, his eyebrows raised with surprise and confusion. This close, he didn't dare let up.

We knew that the counter-song wasn't able to disperse the song on its own. All at once, my memories flashed to every time someone had been cured—myself included.

"Dad's right," I whispered, blinking down at the still form of the sea dragon. "Just this _won't_ work."

Toothless balked at me. His surprise quickly melted to alarm as I shifted around on his back, crouching on all fours and leaning over his shoulder.

"Hiccup, _stop!_ " Dad commanded, but he was too late.

I leapt off of Toothless. The wind raced past as I wrenched my wings open and threw one arm down, pulling myself in a short semicircle around the sea-dragon. At the last second, I pulled my arms and legs back and went into a _very_ rough landing into the shallows.

The flight, as exhilarating as always, was short. So short that Toothless had only just cried out in alarm when I was already submerged.

The sudden, sheer _cold_ sent all the breath whooshing out of my lungs. The freezing waters bit at my skin and sent a white-hot chill prickling down my spine in an almost painful stream of numbness. I knew right away that I had basically no time on my side; I had to get this right on the first try, or not at all.

 _I can do this_ , I told myself. I steeled myself, staring into the shadowy waters…and dove into them.

The counter-song burst from my chest as I waved a cold-numbed hand about, nearly blind below the surface. The waters were too murky to see through, wisps of blood trailing lazily between me and the shadowy black-and-white dragon in front of me. There, lurking in the shadows, the sea dragon's brilliant yellow eyes glowed in the darkness. I reached out, pressing a gentle hand to their forehead.

Their eyes snapped wide, huge with confusion and panic. The poor thing began to writhe around, their rumbling song dipping in and out of hearing range. I kicked closer to them, shivering violently, my lungs _screaming_ for air. With what little time I had left below the surface, I dug my fingers like claws into the sea dragon's cheekbones and pulled up.

They gave in far easier than I expected, bobbing their head right out of the waves. I held onto them as my head broke the surface, and I only halted in my counter-song to suck in a much-need breath of air.

Dad was _not_ happy, screaming from the shore at Toothless to get his scaly butt down here and rescue me. Toothless himself was hovering just meters above the surface, his eyes huge and alarmed and a tad angry at me—but he never let up his counter-song. For a brief moment, we locked our eyes.

The spark flashed through us.

 _Hurry up, you fishbone!_ Toothless nearly shrieked at me through it, both exasperated and terrified at the same time.

I managed to crack a smile at him—to his _unending_ frustration—and twisted back towards the sea dragon. Pretty much every part of me was numb with cold now, so cold that it felt like a stinging burn.

" _S-s-s-soulfire_ ," I stuttered, my lips so cold and my breath so thin that I could only hope that they heard me. _"D-d-do you h-hear me, s-source? W-we want t-to he-help you._ "

The sea dragon hitched their breath—no, _her_ breath—but kept on going the moment I strayed from the "magic word".

I bit back a small hiss, struggling to keep my clashing pity and anger at the source from distracting me. " _F-fine. S-s-soulfire! Soulfire h-here!_ " I tightened my grip and pressed my forehead to the sea dragon's. " _Soulfire!_ "

The song distorted. The sea dragon had already been struggling a little bit—but now that the source was hearing what it wanted, what is so desperately thought it needed to "heal", its full attention was on me…and not the dragon it was supposed to be subduing as a search vessel.

I didn't know exactly why, but the counter-song alone wouldn't do it; as the King had told us, it only "canceled out" the song and prevented takeover. What I _did_ know was that for a dragon already under the spell, the counter-song was like a distant call for attention, something that began to tear down those bindings the source rooted within them. Because opposite to the _source_ needing to be _distracted_ , its _victim_ needed to be made _aware_ again. They needed something to drag them out of that shadow-shell the source trapped them in, something to remind them that their own bodies and the real world around them still existed.

So that was why a song dragon needed physical contact to break free, too. More than that, it seemed that it need the physical contact of a _human._ It was why Astrid and Snotlout had been able to rescue Stormfly and Hookfang. It was why, during the battle, the vulnerable young King had snapped alert _only_ after Drago had put his hand on his tusk.

...and why I had only been able to heal the Color-Shifter halfway on the armada, before I had known the counter-song.

I held onto the sea dragon as tight as I could, thrumming with the counter-song. She was warm, but not warm enough to keep me from passing out from the cold. Toothless and the Color-Shifter were hovering so close that each frigid draft from their wingbeats made the chill that much worse.

" _S-s-soulfire_ ," I whispered again, staring into her eyes and seeing the desperation of the source within them.

The sea dragon writhed about, causing the ocean to froth around and her chain to clink. Her song was strained now, high-pitched and wavering with stress and fear and confusion. Her vivid eyes were wild, blank one moment and present the next.

She suddenly stopped.

Toothless plucked me from the ocean right as the sea dragon lunged at me, her teeth snapping shut just inches away from me.

With a furious snarl, Toothless spat a small fire down at the freed sea dragon. The Color-Shifter joined in before she could lunge at both of us, and the sea dragon dipped underwater with wide, confused eyes.

I almost relaxed until Toothless snapped his neck down to give me his "get ready for one hell of a lecture" look. He swooped over the ship and deposited me on the ground, still making sure to set me down gently even though he was shaking nearly as much as I was. I landed on all four paws and tried to get to my feet, which was unsurprisingly hard when my legs were shaking so much. I settled on crouching there, curling close to Toothless' side.

" _S-s-s-sorry_ ," I stammered to him. " _B-b-but—_ "

" _Hiccup!_ "

Dad had already sprinted over and taken his fur cloak off by the time I'd turned around. He wrapped it tight around me, nearly suffocating me with it. The sudden approach sent an involuntary, unwelcome pang of fear shooting through my limbs—and with gritted teeth, I forced myself not to flinch away. Hopefully, I was shaking too much for Dad to notice.

There was a sound of fire and a blast of heat besides me. I had a second to twist towards Toothless before he snapped out with his teeth and, using the cloak and my wingsuit as a "scruff", literally dragged me onto his freshly-made coal bed.

Toothless plopped down next to me, wrapped his tail and paw around me, and sent me the nastiest look he could. Dad stood just outside the coal bed, his face pale from the fright but his eyes burning with fear and frustration.

As one, they both roared, " _What is_ wrong _with you?!_ "

I ducked my head. I could almost feel my ears pinning to my skull, phantom wings tucking in close. "Y-yeah, b-but I h-healed the s-s-sea dragon."

Toothless groaned as loud as he could and Dad dropped his head with a heavy sigh. I huddled closer to Toothless and gripped Dad's cloak close, grateful for their warmth despite them teaming up on me.

"Hiccup, even _dragons_ can't survive leaping into freezing water!" Dad scolded. "What were you thinking?!"

The Color-Shifter called out a warning above—but not directed at us. Toothless and I swiveled to face him, back towards the ship.

The sea dragon stepped closer onto the beach. She tipped her head aside, nostrils flaring, and shook herself off. She rasped a sheepish question at Toothless.

She was _much_ bigger than I'd thought she was when she had been draped in the darkened cloak of the ocean. She was a little larger than Barf and Belch, with a long neck, small head, and a bulky, streamlined body. She was mostly black with white eyespots and a white underside, her brilliant golden eyes the only hint of color on her. Her paws and spine were heavily webbed, and her tail ended almost like a newt's into a long, delicate fin. Her wings looked much more like fish fins than anything else.

If Shadow-Blenders were built for speed in the air, this dragon was made to fly in the oceans.

" _Woah!_ " Fishleg's ecstatic voice drifted from farther down the beach. "Guys! Guys, look, it's a Sharkworm! That's a Class 5!"

Toothless bristled at the Sharkworm and snapped a _very_ sarcastic reply to her, introducing both of us as Saviors, thank you very much, but please feel free to attack us again. The Sharkworm reared her head, eyes wide and trembling. She stammered several more questions in quick succession, her gaze wildly flitting around her surroundings. Then she cut herself off short and craned her neck down to her chain, following its path back up to the bow of the ship.

As she twisted her neck, a soft gasp left me. Her hide was covered—absolutely _covered_ —with dozens of whiplashes. Some old, some new, some only half-healed. It left a morbid criss-cross marring her hide, like someone had taken a knife and idly traced lines across it.

She let loose a furious snarl filled with bloodlust and desire for revenge.

Toothless, as bitter as he was, couldn't hold back a smirk at that. The Color-Shifter landed besides her and gave a solemn, delicate nod of approval.

I turned back towards Dad, who was standing rigid with his hand hovering just over the hilt of his hammer.

"I was thinking that we could use a little help."

 **o.O.o**

Toothless

The floating-tree raced across the edge of the night-fallen ocean at such a speed that it almost appeared to be made of smooth obsidian. Every human aboard was clinging onto a dragon like their very life depended on it—which it did. The dragons, on the other hand, had no problems digging their claws into the soft wood and flattening themselves, allowing the floating-tree to fly faster across the waters.

It was incredibly cramped—but the Deep-Swimmer guiding our newfound floating-tree had tutted that we made a _light_ load, insisting that she had seen more difficult days during her harrowing experience within the shadow-nest.

As crowded as the floating-tree was, the ocean was the polar opposite. For every inch of this ship that was bustling with tension and bated breaths, the ocean was a vast, yawning maw of empty water. There were no clouds, nor islands—only the wake of the shadow-nest, a slight distortion in the waters this far out. The moon glimmered like a pale sun upon it, bathing soft light onto the blackened waves.

Many of our odd group had wisely chosen to rest, some of them even managing to fall asleep. Hiccup was not so lucky, shifting around in the sullen silence. I was determined to stay up with him, even if I did rest my head on my paws and allow my thoughts to drift.

After some time, Hiccup let out a small, concerned growl. "Weird…"

The King, standing at the head of the floating-tree, tilted his head to glance at us. He would do that every few minutes, just to make sure that we were still here, but never strayed from his position at the front. It turned out that he was very good at tracking out on the waters—a skill we were in sore need of. After all, even knowing where the shadow-nest was headed, the ocean was a big place. We couldn't pick a direction towards Berk and simply _hope_ we stumbled upon the shadow-nest along the way.

I met the King's eye, gave an awkward nod of acknowledgement, and tilted my head to look at Hiccup. " _Ah, what?_ "

To my surprise, he was looking _up_ instead of out at sea, craning his head towards the heavens and crouching closer to my back. " _The stars look…not there_ ," he hummed. " _And there are no auroras._ "

I hadn't noticed it—but now that it had been brought to my attention, it was almost impossible _not_ to. The stars appeared so much dimmer, more easily swallowed in that great abyss. There wasn't even the faintest wisp of the auroras, the very souls of dragons taken up by the Dragoness of the Moon. Normally they danced joyful, vivid patterns across the bright sky, but their absence made the sky all the more bleak.

This far north, it was baffling to see them vanished. To see the physical manifestations of the Dragoness of the Moon so…so… _gone_ was frightening, no matter if it was most likely a fluke.

" _Probably…the weather,_ " I said, even as a stone sunk into my gut.

Hiccup shuddered and curled closer to me, lying his chin on my forehead. " _Probably_ …"

A voice spoke up right at my ear, causing the two of us to jump. "You know, I don't think I'll ever get used to that."

'Eret' had ended up pressed up right against the very unwilling Color-Shifter's side, jammed in by Stormfly, Barf-and-Belch, and the human look-alikes. Despite the crowded circumstances, he was lounging quite casually. Or, rather, he _looked_ casual; there was a subtle stiffening of his limbs, a slight quivering of his jaw that betrayed the anger and trepidation he was _almost_ able to hide.

"Uh…" Hiccup drawled, sitting upright a little more. "Okay…?"

" _What a kind human_ ," I snorted, shooting 'Eret' a look.

"Tell him to deal," Snotlout's muffled, drowsy voice rose from somewhere off to our left.

"Or to mind his own business?" Astrid shot from just behind the King, perched atop a sleeping Stormfly in a ready-to-go position.

'Eret' held up his paws. "Now, now! Don't get me wrong—it's weird, alright, but I can certainly see it has its perks. But you must admit it's a little off-putting to hear such a small lad make such _big_ dragon sounds."

" _Uh, okay_ ," Hiccup said coyly. I snorted, flashing a smug grin over my shoulder at him.

"Ooooh!" Snotlout crowed, apparently thinking Hiccup had jabbed an insult at 'Eret'.

The Color-Shifter made a big, huffy display of trying to fall asleep. He was pinned in so thoroughly by our nestmates that there was no escape; it was either stay put, or spend a lot of wasted time wriggling around.

"How do you even manage to do that?" 'Eret' pressed, sitting upright and leaning forward with inquisitive eyes. "I mean, you sound _just_ like a dragon. I didn't even know people _could_ do that."

Hiccup shrugged, looking away. "I still need a lot of practice. Toothless and I get along just fine, but with other dragons, it's much harder for them to understand me."

"Wait— _what?_ " Came a startled yip just off to our left. 'Fishlegs' struggled to free himself from between Meatlug and Stormfly, failed, and settled on just lying there with his limbs splayed out in defeat. "You mean this whole time they couldn't understand you? Why?"

Everyone who was awake focused on Hiccup—even the King, who had yet to abandon his post behind the Deep-Swimmer. He shifted uncomfortably, and I purred until he relaxed a bit.

"It's because…the way Toothless and I talk removes a really essential part of dragon language," Hiccup said. "They usually make more than one sound at once, called 'overtones', which help show the dragon's emotions or ranking, and…people _can't_ do that." More to me, he mumbled, " _I think?_ "

" _I…don't know,_ " I hummed. To speak with an overtone meant to make multiple sounds at the same time, something I had never heard a human do before. It was better to simply remove them, resulting in the two of us having an odd and noticeable accent, rather than not speak at all. " _I thought the same thing._ "

'Eret' had his head tilted to the side, and leaned backwards against the Color-Shifter's side. "Well, from what I've seen, it still gets the job done," he said. He flicked his eyes towards the Color-Shifter. "Y'know, lad, I bring that up because I'd like to ask you a favor. I want to learn a little more about this fella here."

Hiccup and I exchanged an intrigued look. "Like…?" Hiccup asked.

'Eret' gave the Color-Shifter a rough pat on the hide, earning a muffled growl that he ignored. "Well, for starters, why he saved me back in the battle."

"Saviors, _please_ tell him to stop his yammering," said dragon moaned, covering his eyes and ears with his paws. "I'm _trying_ to sleep."

"Get used to it. Humans never stay quiet," I deadpanned.

Apparently, Meatlug was awake, because she was quick to join in, "Indeed, one must learn to tune such background noise out."

The Color-Shifter groaned. "This human is _lucky_ I'm still indebted to him."

A smug grin crept across my muzzle. Now, _this…_ this was good. "Oh, do you now? Didn't you say you were even earlier? It was quite dramatic and heroic."

Hiccup pulled at my ear with a playful, scolding hiss. I sent one right back at him.

The Color-Shifter stuttered and re-composed himself. "…certainly, Savior. But…"

I tipped my head, and Hiccup shifted on my back to face him better. 'Eret' glanced between us with wide, eager eyes.

The Color-Shifter let his paws drop to the ground and sighed, his eyes blank as he looked into the past. "There was a terrible moment afterwards that I was downed," he admitted. "I camouflaged myself, of course. But this human stayed at my side even when he could not see me, and fended off the humans long enough for me to free myself. So…I am still indebted to him."

" _He…"_ Hiccup began—and then stopped.

He took a deep breath and his eyes steeled with determination. He seemed to put all of his focus into speaking, and as he did, there was a noticeable layer to his voice. " _He is good._ "

It took me a second—and then I jolted with shock, shooting a baffled look over my shoulder at him. He was trying to speak with an overtone, crooning his words and adding an overlying, comforting thrum to reflect his own confidence that 'Eret' was "good". It muffled his speech quite a bit, making his voice sound far away and shaken, but I still _barely_ managed to catch him say:

" _I know it is hard. But he is good, and we need his help._ "

There was something… _fuller_ and _brighter_ about the way he spoke. A jolt of familiarity struck me, leaving me confused. Of course Hiccup sounded like _Hiccup_ …but he had never sounded _this_ close to when he had been a Shadow-Blender, so much less fledgling-like and much more like that nasally, persistent voice I had grown so endeared to back in the cove. Judging by the surprised looks in our nestmates' eyes, they could tell, too.

"Well done, my King," Meatlug applauded. "Although still heavily accented, that was much easier to perceive. Your studies have certainly paid off."

"And you don't sound like a fledgling!" Barf chirped, followed by Belch, "Not that—not that it was _too_ noticeable, our King!"

"…wow," I breathed. With a proud smile, I said, "Very _good! But much less overtone. It is hard to hear you._ " As I spoke, I added an overtone myself: pride and assurance.

Hiccup paused, clearly having to take a moment to translate. A small grin flashed across his face.

The Color-Shifter, on the other hand, was taking some time to adjust. "How did you two just…?" He shook his head and sighed, "And to think that I was _just_ getting used to that, and you go and alter it on me. Regardless, I suppose that last bit is true." His eyes hardened, and he lifted a lip at the blanket of darkness on the horizon. "If this human can truly help us…then so be it. I must help my nestmates. I _must_ help my Four-Wing." He glanced at 'Eret'. "…I just wish I knew _why_ he stayed with me."

'Eret' raised a brow at Hiccup. "That was…quite a lot he had to say about me, huh? Even the others joined in!" He gave a cocky grin, but couldn't hide the nervousness behind it. "All good things, of course…right?"

"He's warming up to you," Hiccup said. I snickered.

"What?" The Color-Shifter asked.

"He's warming up to you," I said.

The Color-Shifter blinked, astonished. He glanced back at the human, who set him with the same surprised look, and then turned away bashfully.

"I-I suppose that…that will be…useful," he said.

At the very same moment, 'Eret' said, "Well, I guess that'll make things easier!"

"I suppose," I said with a wicked grin—one the Color-Shifter avidly pretended not to see. He huffed over-dramatically, as if the matter meant nothing to him.

For some time, idle chatter continued to pop up every now and then between both dragons and humans. Everyone seemed dead-set on pretending that it was a normal day, and that we were on a perfectly-normal journey over the ocean.

Hiccup was the first to fall silent, the apprehension too heavy to bear. I was next. The King had already succumbed to it long ago, keeping careful watch out on the horizon with his looking-object.

One by one, the nervous, fake-cheery voices died down. One by one, silence descended upon our floating-tree that was as dark as the night sky above and the deep ocean below.

One by one, we braced ourselves.

 **o.O.o**

The moon was beginning its slow descent towards the horizon by the time we came upon our target. The shadow-nest rose out of the ocean like a mountain rearing from the waves. With each passing moment, it seemed to sprout taller and taller, casting a blanket of darkness wider and wider still upon the ocean.

By the time that we were close enough to see the fires lighting its surface, Hiccup was shaking—and so was I.

We were really doing this. We were really going back.

I felt sick. My limbs trembled as sharp zings of energy zipped through me, borne from fear and trepidation. In my mind's eye, I could see the Shadow-Blender pelt that monster draped across his shoulders, smell the death wafting off of him, hear the horrible way he spoke in almost-dragon-tongue.

" _It is fine_ ," Hiccup and I both nervously crooned to each other. I glanced up at him to share an uneasy smile—one he was much more reluctant to return, but still gave it his best shot. Our eyes locked.

That spark, that thing that was _almost_ what our link used to be, flickered to life. In it, I saw flashes of memories that still left me outraged and terrified: Hiccup's treatment upon the shadow-nest, the war at the King's beach, the source's last-ditch takeover of every dragon it could touch…its harrowing, sobering "conversation" with Hiccup.

Yet in it all, in all the darkness, there were bright flashes of hope. Saving our fledgling Hum-Wing. The King gifting me with my tailfin. Hiccup's father rescuing us, rescuing _Hiccup_ , and mending the bonds between them that had been broken.

The spark seemed stronger somehow—something I realized just as it faded.

" _What is that?_ " I murmured, reeling from the intensity of it.

" _I…hoped that you would know_ ," Hiccup mumbled distractedly, blinking and rubbing his head.

It wasn't mental magic—Hiccup had none to spare, and plenty of painful reminders to show of it. It certainly wasn't physical magic. It had mostly appeared in times when we _weren't_ physically touching, and neither of us were using vibrations to project it as the young King had once attempted to do.

Yet even magic had a method to it—there was _something_ causing it. It wasn't simply materializing out of thin air. There was a pattern, one we hadn't noticed yet…and to be quite honest, it was driving me _insane._

" _I wish we knew,_ " I huffed, " _Is it…the gods?_ "

Hiccup laughed. He spoke, and as he did, he attempted an uneasy yet hopeful overtone. This time, it was _too_ quiet, barely perceptible. " _I'm not certain the gods would do_ that."

" _Ah, more overtone now,_ " I said sheepishly, to which Hiccup groaned in dismay. " _But…if it is not physical magic or mental magic,_ what _could it be?_ "

" _Love?_ " Hiccup suggested in a dry, somewhat-joking tone, his eyes flicking up towards his father.

" _Oh, how deep_ ," I said with a roll of my eyes. " _There is_ something. _Maybe…after all this…we can work on it._ "

" _After all this?_ " Hiccup repeated softly, his eyes still fixated on the King. " _It's hard for me to imagine it._ "

" _Me_ too," I purred soothingly. " _But I know it will happen._ " With a roll of my shoulders, I gathered my paws beneath me. Rising to my feet, I picked my way around the limbs of all of our nestmates, tip-toeing over wings and tails and human legs and paws. I came to a stop just next to the King, who was using his looking-object and completely unaware that we were next to him.

Hiccup gave a grateful purr, pressing closer to me. Then, to his father, he said, "Uh…hey, Dad."

The King jolted, snapping his looking-object shut. "Great Thor—a little warning next time, boys?"

" _Sorry_ ," we both said, each of us trying to sound lighthearted but failing miserably. That the _King_ was put on-edge wasn't exactly comforting.

The King gave us that sad, solemn look that all of us had come to hate. "Boys…" he began. "You know you don't have to do this."

"Dad…" Hiccup said in his "we talked about this" tone.

"I know," the King sighed. He held out a paw towards Hiccup's shoulder and hesitated. I felt Hiccup tense up for a moment's breath—and then he leaned into it. "But I just got you back, son."

"And you won't lose me again," Hiccup promised. He grasped at the King's paw with his own and squeezed it. "I…don't know how we're going to fix everything. But we don't have a choice."

"There's _always_ a choice," the King said.

Hiccup glanced down at me guiltily. I nodded at him in an encouraging manner. " _And we choose this._ "

My brother translated for me, and the King's solemn expression set in deeper.

"You know it isn't your fault, Hiccup," he said. "You know you don't have to shoulder this on your own, don't you?"

A small smile graced Hiccup's lips. "But doesn't it have _everything_ to do with me?" His face fell, and he said with forlorn acceptance, "Everything with Drago and the Bog Burglars and the other tribes…the source's obsession with soulfire… _all_ of it traces back to us. I get that we didn't _cause_ it to happen, but…" He leaned down and wrapped a paw around my head in a half-hug. "The two of us aren't called Saviors for no reason. We can _do_ something, Dad. We can stop this."

" _And you are here now, not far away_ ," I added.

Hiccup translated. The King took our words in with a knowing look. We had settled on this plan hours ago, but I could still see why he'd try to put an end to it at the last minute. A small, cowardly part of me _wanted_ him to put his foot down and force us to stay.

But we had so many wrongs that we had to make right.

The King put one paw on my forehead and the other on Hiccup's arm. "We'll see each other soon," he ordered us.

" _Alright_ ," Hiccup and I said.

"Alright," the King returned.

With that, I twisted my neck towards our nestmates—many of whom had already been roused awake. "Our nestmates, to us!" I hailed them.

All of them snapped alert, jostling their humans awake—except for Hookfang, who Barf-and-Belch had to lean down and shake awake. The floating-tree filled with a sudden clamor as everyone suddenly realized that now was the time, that now was when our long battle ahead began. Humans scrambled upon the shoulders of dragons, taking up ropes in their paws and huddling close to their companions. Dragons crouched down in readied pounces, all of their eyes locked on Hiccup and myself. In all the commotion, even the Color-Shifter didn't complain, and 'Eret' took the chance to leap upon his back.

"Guys…" Hiccup said. "You know how dangerous this is. If you want to stay—"

"Oh, cut us some slack!" Snotlout said. Lifting a paw to the skies, he shouted, "Let's go kick some ass!"

"Hell yeah!" 'Tuffnut' whooped. "Those are my favorite!"

"I call Eret's!" 'Ruffnut" added. 'Eret' shot a disgusted look over his shoulder at her, and Astrid rolled her eyes with a groan.

Meatlug tottered forth. "Shall we be off, my Kings?" A sly grin crossed her maw. "Time for a little coup d'état, is it not?"

"I'm _super_ ready!" Stormfly bragged, puffing her chest up. "I always knew we could be useful! Even the mean dragon!"

"I'm not mean…" the Color-Shifter grumbled to himself, ducking his head. 'Eret' shuffled around on his spine, and he snapped at him, "Weren't you supposed to go with the chatty yearling?"

Hiccup and I exchanged a final, apprehensive look. My legs started to shake, but I held strong, forcing myself to raise my head and look as dignified as a King should.

We spared one final glance at our baffling flare, one final glance at the terrified King. Despite it all, he nodded at us, giving permission for us to go.

With a leading call, I snapped my wings open and launched us into the air. Our nestmates echoed me, easing into formation: the Color-Shifter and 'Eret' at our left, Stormfly and Astrid at our right, and the rest stretched out behind them.

We ascended high, high up into that starless sky, our hearts hammering, our breaths thin, our wingbeats frantic yet steady. The moon seemed to lay a beacon upon the shadow-nest just on the horizon, a single guiding fire on the obsidian ocean waters.

We charged.


	25. Diaphoniae

**And now an interlude...Chapter 24 will be up next weekend! Have a happy Easter, and don't forget to PM your art request to me on here, Tumblr, or Discord once we hit 500 reviews!**

* * *

 _We see a human and dragon._

Night has fallen, and a stone has sunken in his heart in unison with the retreating sun. Tonight is cold and quiet. The dragons have spent their time squabbling and bickering, wailing on the cliffs for their lost, but now their breaths have caught in their throats.

He finishes hammering in the finishing touches on the roof he is working on and sits back to admire his work. His dragon, Noodles, sits atop his shoulder, holding his fire in his maw to provide light. The little thing can't stop shifting and peeping nervously.

Dogsbreath feels it, too. From here, he has a crisp view of the black ocean and sky. Were it not for the pale, dim moonlight, he would have thought the entire world swallowed into darkness.

He has always been one to jump to conclusions, and he has been struggling to hold that part of him back in recent days. Yet his gut tells him that now is not the time for that. Against all evidence, he asks Noodles to find his children and keep watch over them. Just in case.

Noodles does not understand the command, but he does recognize the names of his adoptive family and the fear stiffening the voice of his companion. Now more anxious than ever, the tiny one-winged dragon leaps from the comfort of his human and off the roof, lands onto the still-battle-strewn village street, and sets off into a sprint.

The dragons that see him are set ill at ease at his wild dash across the village. Many are too prideful to admit that he is the dragon they have been looking to in the past few days, but he is nonetheless. Noodles was now among the oldest of the dragons that remained on Berk, and was one of the closest to the transformed King during their slavery under the Queen. As antsy as he was, he has become an authority to them, prompting them to take on his mission as their own.

But Noodles does not see his care of his humans as a mission anymore. He simply _wants_ them to be safe, to spend time with them no matter how loud they were nor how rough they played. The Kings really _were_ right when they told them all those times that humans were not so bad.

To serve his Kings and to protect his home, he now understands that humans are part of his nest, too. Just as the Kings had always wanted.

And he is no longer the only dragon in his nest who holds that very sentiment.

 _We see Berk._

Noodles darts past countless homes with golden light seeping from their windows. He passes the house of Bergthora, her new companion Rye roosting atop it with smoke curling between his teeth. He passes the house of Thuggory, and as he does, he is forced to dart between the legs of the brilliant orange Deadly Nadder that stands outside, peeking in curiously and hoping for more food.

The humans are still hard at work even in the dead of night, raising houses, tending to their wounded, treating their sick. Dragons shadow some of them, helping in what ways they can understand. The dragons know not of building nor war preparations, but they know that it is cold, they know that almost all the leaders to turn to have vanished, and they know that everyone is hungry. They provide fires and warm sides to rest against, and well-meaning but ultimately rejected food offerings. The humans, in turn, offer still-uneasy company and soft words, maintaining stubborn hope that everything will be fine.

A kind of grim humor passes through both dragon and human, that it is only _now_ that they seem to see eye-to-eye. An unspoken understanding lives in every glance between dragon and human, that now, more than ever, do they need to come together. Without even realizing what they are doing, humans and dragons creep together into groups, finding comfort in their combined numbers.

The village of Berk is small and vulnerable, dark and empty. Even with its leaders and young gone, its occupants have no reason to feel as uneasy as they are. The night is normal and quiet, just like the many ones previously. There is no need to keep their weapons close and their flames ready.

Yet they do.

 _We see the roiling ocean._

It crashes about with enormous waves that reach up towards the sky as if to tear chunks of it down into the frothing mass. There is not a glimmer of scales of fish, nor the deep bellows of sea serpents and whales.

There _are_ figures that cut through the angry waters. Viking ships, hiding in the night without their fires lit, making a quiet sprint through the stormy waves. They are not deterred by the sheer force of the ocean, even as it spends its every movement trying to persuade them otherwise. The people have lived upon these seas their entire lives. They are of the archipelago, and if needed, they could find their way to Berk with their eyes blindfolded.

They are still unsure what they shall do. But they are tired of the dragon scourge of their islands, and they have finally found its source.

More than anything, they are tired of living in fear. It is time to fight back. It is time to put an end to the war, once and for all.

 _We see the floating city of shadows._

Thrumming Sharkworms tear them through the waters, their eyes blind and distant. They are uncaring of obstacles, often bolting straight towards icebergs that dot the freezing waters, forcing the men guiding them to shove them in a different direction.

As dead as the night is, the armada is alive with dragon-song. None were spared against the onslaught of the source on the beaches—not even the great Bewilderbeast, prized possession of the master of the armada. Every now and then, someone will lean over the edge of their ship and strain their eyes, hoping beyond hope that the massive beast is still there.

It is intoxicated by _something_. Its frills poke out of the crashing waves like giant shark's fins. The Bewilderbeast follows, but it no longer powers their great city upon the seas, bringing them to what feels like a crawl after having carried them for so long.

Only one person upon the armada does not shift and stir with anxiety. He is confident that his Bewilderbeast will stay with them, as useless as the dull creature has become. He is confident that his men will guide his armada around the glaciers that threaten it.

He is confident that the demonic dragon-boy and his Night Fury companion will meet him at Berk. All dragons fight to the death for their territory, and they are no different. They will come. They will fall before him. And they will finally learn their place, as all dragons do. After having a breath's moment of enticing freedom, they will be too disheartened to fight him again, and will fall obediently back into his hands.

More than anything, he is confident that he has found a solution to the very forces that sent his life's work into motion.

The entity the dragon-boy called the "source" is almost as unresponsive as its infected victims, but this does not worry him. The very sight of him makes it cower, vivid eyes flashing in the bleak shadows. This creature is one that can attract and subdue all dragons. With it at his disposal, he will make quick work of the archipelago, ripping all the mongrels from their rampages through the villages.

And then he will make away with them, so that their monstrosity would never reach the realms of mankind again.

Only then, will none bear the fate he himself has suffered. Only then, will families and villages and vulnerable young boys be safe from the talons and flames.

 _And We see the source._

Rage and terror and defeat blast through it over and over.

It is trapped, _again._ It is bound within darkness, _again._ It has lost all control, _again._

It cannot sing, for its muzzle is crushed under the weight of heavy metal chains. It cannot fly, for the cruel, traitorous gods above still blaze it with Their contempt. It cannot fight, for it does not have its only key out of this damnation, the spark of hope so cruelly held just out of reach.

Its mind flashes to _them_ , to _him_ , and a muffled bellow of fury and sorrow escapes it again. It does not understand why it cannot reach them anymore, but somehow, they have slipped from its claws. Now its only two chances are gone, and with them, its very heart has been whisked away.

For a brief moment, hope reignites. Almost too quiet to hear, more of a memory in the depths of its mind, it hears that word. _Soulfire._

Desperately, it crashes through the shells of safety it has made, bouncing from dragon to dragon until it reaches the one with _him_. It sits there with pleading eagerness, forcing its entire being into that space, staring into him with pinpoint clarity. Hoping beyond reason, more of an unheard prayer doomed to fail, it tries to convince itself that he has come to see reason. Maybe now he knows what must be done. Maybe now, this half-creature that has so easily gained Their favor...this still-broken yet somehow _recovering_ creature that has been plagued by its very own demons is showing it…

Dare it believe that this is... _kindness?_ Empathy? _Listening?_

Cracks snap through its shell. It curls away, aghast, as the safety and control begins to chip away bit by bit. With a painful, breathless jolt, it realizes what is happening.

He and his companions are shoving it away. They are throwing everything it has ever wanted at it, they are _mocking_ it with the very things it has craved for a lifetime. Love. Warmth. Happiness. Soulfire. Returning to _itself_ again, both in spirit and in physical form, no longer cursed as _this._

Fury and jealousy and sorrow streak through its core. If only it could shriek its song at them from here. If only it could _convince_ them.

If only it could keep a grasp on its shell.

The shell shatters around it, and the terror of it is too much. With one last, mourning glance at them, it is forced to flee before it is left exposed and vulnerable. Within the last wisps of its confinement, it hears their relieved voices, and the very sound of them fills it with rage at the injustice.

It's not fair. It is so very, very unfair, for it to have laid itself out bare before him and still be so greatly misunderstood. For it to have taken the divine punishments it still bears and to still lie in such _unending_ lament, while _he_ finds relief.

The shadows curl around it as it is brought back to its senses, back to the mockery of its unwanted form, to the emptiness it feels deep through its soul, to that hollowness at its center where its spark _should_ be.

Terror fills it as it realizes that it is no longer alone, but not in the way that it has craved for so long.

Before it stands the monster of darkness that has trapped it here. It has returned to torture it, to howl at it, to force submission from it. It does not understand what the monster _wants_ , and the punishment for this is severe. Its form shifts and wavers, but the monster has quickly learned where to strike and how to draw out the agony of each blow. With every bit of pain inflicted on it, memories of battles and terrors and horrors and _monsters_ long-since gone swoop upon it, making it all that harder to bear. The present and past melt together, leaving it awash with torment.

Now, more than ever, does it _need_ to be itself again.

Now, more than ever, does it _need_ its soulfire, that spark it so longs for.

Now, more than ever, does it sob to its absent gods to let it be whole again.


	26. Chapter 24

**Hello, everyone!**

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 **That's all for now. Again, thank you all so much! As always, comments/criticisms are greatly appreciated, and have a wonderful day!**

* * *

 **Chapter 24**

Hiccup

Toothless clicked his tongue in a soft leading call. I waved my hand and pointed, signaling the others to get ready.

Both human and dragon nodded at us in understanding. Without a single sound, they melted away into the darkness of night. Snotlout and Hookfang made a beeline towards the front of the armada, while the twins and Barf and Belch twisted around and doubled-back to the rear. Astrid, Stormfly, Meatlug, and Fishlegs broke away to the left and right. Eret and the Color-Shifter stayed with us.

In moments, my lame eyes couldn't track any of them anymore—which was actually a good thing, because it meant that they couldn't be seen from below, either. Toothless would keep a close eye on them for the both of us.

The four of us turned our attention downwards, to the shadow-nest below, illuminated only by the spare torch or two.

I was so scared that I _wasn't_ anymore. An odd calm had swept over Toothless and myself, our limbs rigid and our eyes dead-set below. At a glance, we seemedfine, but if anyone looked closer, they would see how our breath hitched, how we would flinch ever-so-slightly at any unexpected sound, how there was just the slightest tremble in our voices. My heart hammered louder than the ocean in my ears, and a nervous, tingling energy zipped through me every few seconds.

" _Are you ready?_ " Toothless whispered with an anxious overtone.

" _As ready as I'll ever be_ ," I said, struggling to add a false-confident overtone myself. " _Which is not a lot._ "

" _Me, too,_ " Toothless laughed humorlessly.

The Color-Shifter gave a soft growl of agreement. Eret leaned down and patted him.

"Alright, lads," he whispered. His eyes flashed with fear and anger in the moonlight. "Let's show them what happens when you get a little too overconfident."

"Right," I murmured. "So, where to?"

Eret hummed, leaning far off the Color-Shifter to get a good look below. He had lived on the shadow-nest for so long that he knew it like the back of his hand. He'd explained every bit of it to us in as much detail as he could remember, and now, his explanations began to click together into reality.

Before, the armada was an ethereal place, filled with shadows and disorientation and pain. After Eret's explanation, though, the twists and turns of its maze had some sense to them. As horrifying as this place was, as much as it seemed to suck the light out of its surroundings, it didn't seem as impossible a place to understand and survive in as before.

 _The larger ships are at the front to keep from draggin' on the Bewilderbeast and Sharkworms so much._

The armada was shaped like a sleek, thin dart. Just at the front was the castle of the city, the largest ship with an enormous tower sprouting out of it. She had a chain winding around her deck—and looking closer, I realized that _all_ of the front ships had one stored on them, specifically to be attached to the young King. Smaller chains then connected each ship to the one behind it, allowing the entire armada to move as one unit. In my memories, I saw the locking mechanisms on them that allowed ships to break from formation when needed.

Now the front of the armada was being held up by dozens and dozens of smaller chains, each dipping into the ocean. An arrow-shaped, frothing mass ripped apart the ocean ahead of the armada, and every now and then, the moonlight would reflect across the sleek, shining scales of a Deep-Swimmer.

 _The rear is taken up mostly by supplies and storage. There's even a few smithies back there, workin' metal like there's no tomorrow, since damn near everything is reinforced by metal of some sort._

The last few ships in the armada were strewn about with barrels, empty traps, and broken machinery. Some of the brightest lights came from heavily-fortified "buildings" on top of the decks, smoke spewing out of them. I could only imagine what they were building in there, clanging away in the dead of night.

I noticed that those ships in particular were held at a distance from the rest of the armada. Their docking chains were much longer than the rest, and I had no doubts that the release mechanisms were faster, too.

 _Now, this is where things get tricky. The entire midsection of the armada is its armed force. We're talking catapults, spear-throwers, bola-launchers, mounted bows-and-arrows, some fancy explosive things, and most importantly…the dragons._

The ships in the middle were medium-sized. Still huge and way bigger than even Eret's old ship, but not nearly the mountains at the forefront. Each and every single one of them had at least one cage on it and was mounted with traps.

Almost all of them had dragons in them. I couldn't hear them from up here, but all it took was one look at their motionless forms to know that they were song dragons.

 _I don't know where exactly our little friend is, but I'd wager it's either in the middle section under one of the decks, or in Drago's quarters at the front. Either way…_

Flicking my eyes around, I spotted something unusual on a midline ship: a huge amassment of torches, dead-center in the armada. There were at least a score of men crammed onto the deck, each of them grasping fire in their hands. The ships around it were virtually abandoned, as if all the men had been ordered to stand on that one instead.

… _it's going to have one hell of a guard._

" _There_ ," Toothless, Eret, and I all said at once.

" _Wait, what?_ " The Color-Shifter stammered, looking frantically below.

From afar, there was a soft whistle carried on the wind. A second followed it, and then a third.

All of us exchanged a glance. Eret put his fingers to his lips and gave an answering call.

I swallowed and pressed close to Toothless. He pushed his head up against mine in one last, brief reassurance.

We dove.

 **o.O.o**

Several things happened all at once.

A searing explosion blossomed from the back of the armada, filling the quiet of the night with a burning onslaught of heat and light.

There were startled shouts, the beginnings of a warning, a horn cutting through the panic. A deep, ear-piercing boom rattled the armada once, twice—and then several of the ships at the middle-front were cut off by their docking chains. The ships separated from the Deep-Swimmers immediately began to decelerate, and the front still being powered leaped forward with a violent jolt. Already men on the slowing ships were hauling Deep-Swimmers out of cages, attaching chains to them, and ushering them into the water to follow their separated front.

A fourth explosion out at sea, searing into the frothing waters, and the front suddenly veered off to the right. Then a fifth, and a portion of the singing Deep-Swimmers darted off into the opposite direction, splitting the shadow-nest's charge in two directions.

The armada rocked violently, the ships swerving this way and that from the explosions and the sudden stops and turns. The men on the heavily-guarded ship struggled to keep their footing. Curses and screams echoed in my ears, but to my grim expectations, not a whisper of dragon-voices could be heard besides the song.

" _Now!_ " I roared.

Toothless let loose his fire, a magic-enhanced burst so bright it was painful to look at. It barreled directly into the front of the ship, exploding with a brilliant purple-white sunburst and covering the deck with smog. The Color-Shifter materialized on the deck a moment later, and with a deft spin, he whipped his tail out and knocked nearly every unsteady guard clear off the ship.

Key word: nearly.

One man cloaked in a white bearskin had fallen over, missing getting knocked off by inches. He scrambled backwards from the furious Color-Shifter. The Color-Shifter lifted his wings, threw himself away, and sunk into the air, disappearing from view. The underling drooped with relief.

Then he froze and slowly turned around to see Toothless and myself looming over him, leering down at him.

"Keys, please?" I asked, leaning over Toothless' head and holding out a hand. Toothless bared his teeth in a snarl, his fangs inches from my fingers, just in case the message wasn't clear.

He scrambled around, checking pockets here and there, and then produced a keyring. It had more than one attached to it, just to make things difficult.

"Cool. Thanks!" I said, snatching it before he got any second thoughts.

Toothless lunged, snagged the man's clothing up in his teeth, and rose to his hind legs. With a grunt, he twisted and launched the poor man clear across the gap between ships and onto another one. A sixth explosion hit the armada's midsection the moment he lurched to his feet, and he went down again.

Just behind the ship, I saw a snapping-cage wrench open as if by its own will. In all the chaos, nobody seemed to notice it. The cage finished winding open, leaving the song dragons trapped inside exposed to the open air. I caught a glimpse of Eret in the sky, the Color-Shifter camouflaged beneath him, and then he disappeared as well as the Color-Shifter rose out of sight.

There was no more time to take in the view. With a brief warning, Toothless blasted the door below open. We rushed in.

The first thing I noticed was silence. Then darkness. A horrible stillness. The stale scent of blood mixing with the sharp sting of metal.

Corpse-like eyes glinted in the weak light. Toothless lurched backwards. I froze.

"So, you did come."

Toothless reared and twisted around—just in time to see a second lackey close the door behind us, casting us in darkness.

Toothless roared an outraged, shaken threat. The ship lit up with vivid purple light as he prepared his fire, casting long, horrible shadows onto the walls. The underling at the door cowered away at the sight.

I turned to face Drago.

My heart was thundering painfully in my chest. My head buzzed with dozens of frantic thoughts. My limbs rattled. My mouth was dry.

A decoy. This ship had been a trap. It had been obvious— _painfully_ obvious—but we'd fallen for it anyways. A small, frustrated growl escaped me.

Another muffled explosion from outside. The ship heaved and groaned as it dipped back and forth.

"I had a feeling you wouldn't stay infected for long," Drago said. His voice was soft, a whisper in the deep, so quiet it was hard to pinpoint. A hungry grin split across his face. "And look at you, flying right back to me, where you belong. I should thank you for your obedience."

"No," I breathed, my gaze entrapped in his. Then, somehow finding strength in my voice, I repeated, " _No._ You're wrong."

Drago huffed like my words were ridiculous. "You've a clever plan, I'll hand you that. And I must admit that I'm irritated to know you were hiding the cure all this time." He set me with those cold, cold eyes and continued to whisper with that eerie, quiet voice. "Don't you want to help your fellow dragons? How can you abandon them here?"

He shifted—that horrible Shadow-Blender cloak fluttered limp and dead—and held out that bullhook.

Toothless let loose his fire.

Drago pulled up his cloak in a heartbeat. The explosion filled the hull of the ship, blinding me with its heat and brilliance.

Before the spots had even dimmed from my vision, I leapt off of Toothless towards the door. Drago's inferior had curled up against the wall, covering his head in a vain attempt to shield himself from the blast. I scrabbled around for a quick second, found the handle, and wrenched the door open.

Toothless was right at my tail. He ducked his head under my legs and hoisted me up onto him, clawing his way back out into the open, out of the shadows.

We paused just outside at door, the night around us filled with light and fire while the ship's hull remained freezing and dark. Toothless let his fire seep in his maw, holding Drago in place in the small, cage-like hull of his abandoned ship.

Somehow, _we_ had trapped _him._

Drago collected his feet underneath him with the slightest grimace of pain and narrowed his eyes up at us. Toothless tensed, ready to either shoot or spring away at a moment's notice—and from the calm way Drago rose to his feet, he knew it all too well.

Which only made it all the more intimidating when he looked to us not with anger, but with a mad glint of victory.

"Leave, then, dragon-boy, and I will see you when I take Berk," he rasped in his gravely, dragon-like voice. "For what it's worth, it's at least fun to see all the different ways you try to fight me." His eyes flashed. "But know that in avoiding the inevitable, you will sacrifice the life of the very dragonling you risked your life to protect. You didn't really think that it escaped, did you?"

Another explosion. More screaming. The sound of war machines unloading at our nestmates. There was so little time, and we were wasting it here, talking to this man of shadows. He was stalling. He _had_ to be stalling.

Still, my heart dropped to my feet. Still, my breath caught.

" _The fledgling Hum-Wing?_ " Toothless whispered. He snarled, " _You're lying!_ "

The shadowy claws clamping down on my throat loosened their hold. I met the madman's eye, no matter how much I wanted to urge Toothless to take us back into the welcoming folds of the sky.

" _Why?_ " I said. "All of this death…all of this suffering you cause…what's the _point?_ "

Drago scoffed. "The point? It means nothing to you. You are but a dragon. One that is very good at fooling those around it, but a dragon nonetheless. Your natural place is below me, under my command."

In the echoes of my memories, I saw him towering over me, heard him screaming for me to submit.

"You're wrong," I rasped. "All you do is force control and distort everything around you. You're completely blind to what's right in front of you."

With a small frown, I thought to myself, _Just like I have been._

"Oh?" Drago took one step closer, his cloak still smoldering, his slow movements being all that betrayed the pain of his wounds. Toothless snarled and arched his back. "Like what, little dragon? Am I blind to your humanity? To your leadership over raiding dragons? Are you hiding some magical threat deep within you?"

"No…" I said. "But you do try to blind others. To make them lose the will to go on, so you can control them." Meeting those cold, dead eyes, I realized, "You are _exactly_ like the source."

Drago's cool demeanor broke for just a fraction of a second, rage flaring to life just beneath his corpse-like features.

Toothless' fire rose in pitch, glowing so intensely that there were no more shadows for Drago to sink into. He was going to do it—he was going to fill the hull with all of his fire, burning the man of shadows alive in his own ship.

Drago's fury wavered, the briefest flicker of fear flashing through his eyes like lightning curling across a blackened stormcloud. Toothless' fire reflected in his eyes as they locked onto the growing flames. The sight—fire gleaming in frightened eyes—was oddly familiar.

It hit me why.

Time slowed almost completely to a stop.

My heart pounded in my ears, each beat as loud and drawn-out as a roar of thunder.

It was familiar because I had seen it before, dozens and dozens of times. It was familiar because I had seen it under the Queen's command.

It was familiar because I had seen it in the eyes of countless innocent people just before I had ended their lives.

Drago was a monster, someone who kept a chokehold on his underlings with the constant threat of death. It was a horribly efficient way to keep dominance; nobody fights back when their master could simply kill them or those they love for their disobedience. It worked because it was _easy_ for him to be so cruel.

And now here we were, with the opportunity to put an end to it...but killing him ourselves, by our own will.

Nausea crept through me at the thought. I had already ravaged through the lives of so many under the control of the Queen. I had once felt that very same bloodlust, and I had spent countless nights waking up in a panic from the _unending_ nightmares those times wrought upon me.

Shadow-monster or not, justified revenge or not, I couldn't— _wouldn't_ do it _again_. I would _never_ let that shadow of my mind so thoroughly consume me again.

I would _never_ become a monster again.

Never again. _Never again._

The light of Toothless' fire reached its peak.

Just before he filled the hull with flames, I snapped my hands out, grasped the door handles, and wrenched it shut. Toothless glanced at me with a brief bout of surprise. Then, taking in the sheer determination etched across my face, he twisted towards the door, reared to his hind paws, and pounded his front paws into it, flinging all of his weight into the lock. The door dented inwards, but held firm in its frame, making it impossible to open.

It would trap Drago in the darkness he thrived in. I knew he wouldn't be trapped for long. I knew it was probably insanely-stupid to show him mercy.

But I also knew that I would never forgive myself if we killed him in cold blood.

With a disdainful snort, Toothless flung us away, above the battle, back into the blanket of darkness above.

"I know you won't ever change," I murmured, casting a glance down at the decoy ship. "But _we_ can choose not to change for the worse."

My eyes lingered on the ship, as if expecting to see Drago saunter out of the hull anyways. He had been so confident that we would fall back into his hands that it made my stomach roil. The shadow of my mind lunged at my doubts and anxieties, filling my eyes with visions of us failing _again._

I forced myself to look away, back towards the ambush, back towards what really mattered.

There was a sharp outcry—and the Color-Shifter and Eret materialized in front of us, both of them wearing the same shocked and relieved expression.

"Looks like that one was a dud, eh?" Eret asked. "And I'm havin' a feeling that the next ones we try will be like that, too. Look!"

The entire armada was alert now. Explosions were becoming fewer and farther between as our nestmates were more easily spotted. We had specifically instructed them _not_ to dive if they had even the slightest thought that they had been seen, and they were more than eager to follow those instructions. Orange firelight glimmering all around the armada where stray bits of wood had caught flame, and the entire fleet was disjointed, some ships already using Deep-Swimmers to catch up with the front and some still being dragged along.

In all the chaos, the numerous cages Eret and the Color-Shifter had opened remained undisturbed, and the song dragons within them stood idly by. Toothless asked the Color-Shifter a quick question— _have you found your Four-Wing?_ —and the Color-Shifter bared his teeth in worry and shook his head.

This wasn't good. We weren't finding anyone we were looking for, and at this rate, it wouldn't even take thirty minutes for the armada to stitch itself together. Frustration swelled through me as I realized that Drago's distraction had not only worked, but had worked _well_.

" _Should we still look for the source?_ " I asked Toothless, overlaying the words with my uncertainty. " _Or should we go while everyone is still safe?_ "

" _We came here for the source_ ," Toothless snarled, just as upset at the turn of events as myself. " _We will get the source, or all of this is for nothing._ "

I growled with agreement and turned to Eret. "Can you take us to where the source is most likely to be? And—wait. Toothless, sound the retreat. Really loudly."

" _What?!_ " He gasped, twisting his head around just to glare at me. " _We need our nestmates here, Hiccup!_ "

" _I know! And they will be_ ," I replied.

Toothless took a moment. Then, realizing what I meant, he showed all of his teeth in a smirk. He took in one huge, over-dramatic breath, and bellowed as loud as he could, " _RETREAT!_ "

The sound of explosions died away. The night fell silent once more, save for the barely-perceptible humming of the song dragons.

Frantic wingbeats grew in volume, and there were our nestmates, confused and out of breath. All of them took in our very, very empty paws and stared at us in bafflement.

"Hiccup, what's going on?" Astrid said. "Did you find it?"

"No," I said. "The ship we thought it was in was a decoy, so we got Drago instead."

Toothless growled, and so did the Color-Shifter.

"But what now? Do we go back?" Fishlegs gasped. He and Meatlug were both panting for breath. "Meatlug's close to her shot limit, and the more fires we light, the more easy they'll see us."

"Exactly," I said. "We have to fly low enough to be seen, and head back towards Dad's ship. And be loud about it, too."

Toothless translated for our nestmates. Stormfly looked giddy at the prospect of "making lots of noise", Hookfang was just confused, and both Meatlug and Barf and Belch blinked in surprise and slow understanding. The Color-Shifter let out a moan that he just wished we could be done with everything.

Without any further explanation, Toothless let loose one more leading call—being extra sure to aim it _down_ , towards the armada—and swung us back away. Stormfly was quick to squawk and crow about how _disappointed_ she was to leave, while the others took a more subtle "answering call" approach.

We were a minute's flight away from the shadow-nest when Toothless clicked his tongue in a command and took us straight up.

" _Gah!_ " Snotlout screamed below. "Hiccup, what's going on?!"

"I get it! I get it!" Tuffnut whooped. "Gotta fight fire with fire!"

"I think I preferred the explosions!" Ruffnut shouted, sounding much more seasick than her brother.

We leveled out high, high above the ocean, so much so that the air was thin and frigid. I shuddered and curled closer to Toothless.

From this high up, hidden in the sheer darkness of the starless sky, it would be near impossible for anyone on the armada to see us, especially with their vision dulled by the fires.

But _Toothless_ could see _them_ just fine.

I explained our poorly-strung plan as we made quick work returning back overhead, this time with the armada so far below that it looked almost like a small island. The fires on it still burned, and now Toothless and the Color-Shifter both ducked their heads, eyes narrowed as they squinted below.

"Hiccup, I don't like this," Astrid said. "You won't have backup at the ready like before. It might be better to just go back to the Chief's ship."

"If we don't get the source, then Drago will use it on our nestmates at Berk," I returned, straining my eyes downward even though I couldn't see a single thing. "And it doesn't deserve to be trapped there— _nobody_ does."

My mind flashed back to Drago's threat: that he would kill the fledgling Hum-Wing he claimed to have.

 _No_ , I told myself. _I saw her get away. It was a lie._

 _Dragoness of the Moon, let it be a lie._

"Yeah, this plan is lame!" Snotlout complained. "Hookie and I were doing just fine out at the ocean. Until, uh, they started throwing nets at us."

"But now they think they don't _need_ to," Fishlegs mused.

Stormfly asked when we would "get to" dive again, and Meatlug shushed her. She pouted and squawked a complaint, demanding to be taken seriously, too.

Toothless' voice cut through the chatter like a hot knife: " _There._ "

I crouched low over Toothless' shoulder, begging my dulled eyesight not to fail me this one time. From what he was looking at, I could make out one of the bigger ships at the front, slowly stitching itself back to the armada as all the Deep-Swimmers were pulled back in-line.

" _The biggest floating-tree_ ," Toothless said. " _The dark one. There are no fires on it, or dragons, or humans. It looks empty…_ "

I honestly couldn't think of a more fitting place to hide the source: a huge, empty, dark chamber. Now it seemed _obvious_ that it had been put away somewhere so subversive, hidden in the place where we would least expect it—but there wasn't time to beat myself up over it. I would do that later, when we were all safe.

"Is that Drago's quarters?" I asked Eret, pointing.

"Uh, which one?" He asked. "If you're talkin' about the huge one, then of course."

" _Let's go!_ " Toothless commanded. I clung onto him, and he pulled his wings into a steep dive. Still, I managed a glance over my shoulder just in time to hear Eret give a shout of surprise and to see the Color-Shifter melt away from sight—and, by extension, Eret. So long as they stayed above the armada, neither would be seen.

Just before we were completely out of hearing range, I heard Astrid's voice on the wind, "Hiccup, I'm giving you _fifteen_ minutes!"

Toothless took us far around the ship's side, steering clear of the body of the shadow-nest below and the fires still flickering across its surface. The men on it were clamoring around like frantic ants, many rushing to reconnect the jigsaw puzzle of chains that bound their ships together. A portion of the front end was still broken off, the Sharkworms having been forced far, far to the side by Hookfang. The rear of the armada was a huge, smoking mass, and I was unsurprised to see nobody attempting to reconnect it. The traps holding the song dragons were still left open, deemed unimportant considering that the poor things were too far gone to try to escape.

We stayed in the shadows just outside of the armada and lowered as slow as we could, careful to keep from crossing the moon's path. As we got closer, the Color-Shifter dove to be level with us, allowing a seemingly-floating Eret to be seen.

"There," he whispered, pointing at one of the raised decks of the black ship.

I blinked at it, and my heart leapt into my throat. I remembered being on that very ledge, when Toothless had been thrown into a cage, when Drago had tried to get the young King to take him over.

I knew the way down into its depths.

There was a moment's hesitation again—and the four of us descended, swooping upon it as quietly as we could. Now that the armada was beginning to quiet, a new sound rose to meet us: the songs of the many captives held here. Toothless, the Color-Shifter, and I all began to hum the counter-song uneasily, unsteadily, struggling to stay as quiet as possible yet fend off the looming song.

With gentle pushes and silent gestures, I guided Toothless around the back end of the ship, down towards the door I knew was there: the door that _we_ had been trapped behind just a few days ago. Toothless ducked this way and that, employing his Shadow-Blender magic to sink into the darkness around us. The Color-Shifter had it much easier, simply following us with his wings held up in such a way that they blocked most of Eret from sight.

My heart raced with every second we spent on this horrible nest. Every time Toothless jolted to a stop or caught his breath, I did the same. He was shaking just as much as I was, and it was all I could do to press close to him and let out a small, comforting purr for the both of us. Toothless returned it for a brief pause and regained his confidence, tip-toeing along much faster than before.

We made it to the deck of the ship, which was still almost completely abandoned. Looming above was the huge, reinforced tower that served as the armada's watchouse. To our right was the ship housing the very same arena Toothless had been thrown in…and directly in front of us, the doors that lead down into the hull, into the cages.

Toothless padded across the deck, his counter-song blending into a growl. I slid off his shoulder and shivered at the sudden cold and vulnerability. Reaching out, I grasped the doors in clumsy hands and pulled.

They didn't budge.

With a small hiss, I scrabbled around my flightsuit, reached into my pocket, and pulled out the keys. The first one wouldn't even go in. The second slid halfway through and refused to budge. The third…

I almost gave up on it until I had wriggled it around enough to feel the slightest give. With a click, the door opened, swinging into the shadows. Toothless sniffed inside and growled.

" _I smell the shadow-monster here_ ," he seethed. I tensed until he clarified, " _The scent is old._ "

"Would it have _killed_ you to start with that last bit?" I hissed at him.

Toothless set me with a flat look. " _Yes."_

"Hah!" Eret's disembodied voice laughed. "I can't believe he actually gave you the _real_ keys. Seems mutiny runs deep here."

" _Or humans are just stupid_ ," Toothless snorted. I spared a second to shoot him a look and paw at him, and he rolled his eyes.

Toothless and I crept in—and then I turned back towards the front. "I'm going to shut the door, and you two guard."

"Well, if you insist…" Eret said, clearly not too eager to go into the creepy ship dungeon. Toothless translated, and the Color-Shifter gave a much more encouraging snort of understanding.

I creaked the doors shut inch-by-inch. Darkness closed in.

It was so quiet and cold that even the slightest moan of the ship sounded enormous.

Toothless and I pressed close together, and Toothless opened his jaw wide and held his fire in it. Soft purple-white light illuminated the hull and the empty cages that littered the wall.

At the very end of the cavern of metal, two pupils reflected the light like floating cat's-eyes.

" _The source_ ," I whispered.

For a moment, we stayed our approach. Toothless couldn't help a small growl and swallowed it with noticeable effort.

There it was. Ethereal, still seemingly shrouded in fog, its entire being a paradox, was the lost creature that had been stealing away the young and adults of our nests. The elder Hum-Wing. The Color-Shifter and his Four-Wing. _Us._

 _This is crazy_ , I thought to myself, not for the first time.

We had no other choice. As many lives this creature had touched with suffering, that number would double in Drago's hands.

But...maybe...maybe _we_ could put an end to it.

Toothless and I pressed close to each other, sharing the little confidence we had with each other. Silent as phantoms, we crept closer, our movements slow and still uncertain. The source did nothing as we approached closer and closer, even when we came to a stop right in front of it.

It was the first _real_ look I'd had at it. The sight of it still sent a stab of pain and jealousy straight through my heart. Its pine-brown body and pine-green eyes were sickeningly familiar, making me sway with the feeling that I was having an out-of-body experience. I felt like I would snap back into reality, back into that form, trapped behind the cage with Toothless standing in front of me.

The source's body blended like fog into its surroundings, though, and its eyes glowed like the dozens of auroras that were missing from the sky. It looked so, so much like I used to—but was still completely different in a lot of ways.

Its eyes filled with fear and anger. It lashed what I could make of its tail and swung its head. Something glinted in Toothless' light—a muzzle made almost entirely out of cold metal.

It looked so small, curling up against the ground like that, its entire jaw constricted in Drago's metal.

" _Here_ ," I said, crouching to all fours and speaking with a soothing overtone. " _Let me help you._ "

I reached through the bars towards the source. It lurched away and swiped a paw full of claws at me—claws that harmlessly passed _through_ my arm. A chill swept over me. It was like a cold burn, and even though its touch was ethereal and empty, it still made my arm sting with cold. I flinched my arm backwards with a surprised hiss.

" _We're trying to help!_ " Toothless growled, pinning his ears. " _Do you want us to_ leave? _Do you want to stay here?_ "

The source let out a muffled growl. It violently shook its head and pawed at its constraints, but there was no getting that muzzle off on its own—not when its body didn't seem to have any mass to it, merely a cold illusion.

" _Shh_ ," I hummed, reaching tentative fingers towards it again. " _It is fine. It is fine._ "

I inched my hands closer and closer. The source jerked its head away and stiffened, panicked eyes locked on me. It held statue-still as I clasped the muzzle in my hands and began to tug at it, prying around for a release mechanism.

Toothless began to hum the counter-song. I found a switch and flicked it, and the muzzle clicked open.

The source lurched away and _screamed_. I'd just barely managed to throw myself at Toothless and wrap my arms around his ears before it rounded on us, its wild eyes filled with fury, and let loose the song for all it was worth.

" _MH…MH...MH!_ " Toothless and I sang as loud as we could, clinging to each other and burrowing our heads into the other's neck. The sound was so painfully loud that I felt the inside of my ears vibrate, and it was all I could do to hope that Toothless' hearing was spared.

The song was dizzyingly close, too much to bear—but our counter-song was just as loud, a foothold to grasp onto to keep from falling into that sorrowful emptiness. My head buzzed like it was full of insects and my body trembled, but I held fast onto Toothless, forcing myself to stay _here_ , fighting off the shell the source was trying to enclose around us. Toothless curled closer and closer to me, holding on with his claws so tight that it was painful. It was the price to pay for freedom.

It took the source several seconds to let its song die down into a quieter thrum. It stood to its full height, which was, to my surprise, shorter than myself. Its eyes narrowed at us and its tail lashed, and it bared barely-perceptible teeth at us. With a shake of its head, it stalked towards us, and with every step it took, it let its song rise louder and louder, never once breaking eye contact.

The three of us stood toe-to-toe, Toothless and I fighting the source's song with equal force. We were safe from it—but _only_ safe, incapable of even speaking to each other without risking being taken under.

I pressed close to Toothless and reached out once more towards the source. This time, I added an overtone to my counter-song: one of soft gentleness. One of hopefulness. It was all I could think to convince it that I wanted to help, that I wanted to _understand_ it, and that I needed it to trust us.

The source's song wavered, quieting a bit. It flicked those wide, unbelievably-expressive eyes between me, my hand, Toothless, my hand, me, and my hand again.

It looked so small, so helpless, so confused.

What uncertainty I still had left in me was replaced by resolve. I closed the gap between us and let my fingertips lay just on its forehead. A painful zing of cold swept up them, and they went numb almost immediately. I couldn't _feel_ the source, just the pressure of placing my hand onto something solid. It sent a shiver down my spine at the sensation of contacting it and _not_ at the same time.

The source's song went almost completely silent, and I let my comforting counter-song melt into a purr. Toothless was much more cautious, refusing to let up with his.

" _See?_ " I said. " _Not so bad, right?_ "

The source held perfectly still.

We waited.

Its breath came out as a hiss, a barely-perceptible voice caught in a drifting wind. I could barely hear it, but I didn't need to; I already had a feeling of what it would say.

" _Soulfire…_ "

I hesitated. My entire arm was prickling with cold now, the freezing numbness trickling up it like vines taking root. Toothless and I exchanged a glance.

The spark flashed between us.

Fear. Uncertainty. We couldn't just _give away_ soulfire to this unearthly creature that we knew so little about. But we couldn't linger here any longer, not just after our ambush, and certainly not after the source had screamed its spines off at us as loud as it could.

But maybe...maybe, by learning more about it, we could still help it.

Toothless actually smiled at this. The spark faded, leaving me breathless with an odd relief and joy.

" _Come with us_ ," Toothless urged the source, letting down his counter-song just enough to speak. " _Come with us, okay?_ " Now, much more gently than I expected, he asked, " _Don't you want to leave? Don't you want to escape this horrible shadow-nest? Don't you want to be safe?_ "

Dragons could not cry, but still the source's eyes seemed to well up with hopeful, joyful tears.

" _Please,_ " it choked. Its eyes nearly glowed, and it gasped with heartfelt relief, " _Soulfire?_ "

" _We need to leave_ ," I dodged the question. I retracted my hand and shook it to get the feeling back in it. Then I reached into my pocket and fiddled around with the keys, jamming one after another into the lock until I found the one to open it.

The door swung open. The source cowered for a moment, startled by its own freedom, and then blinked and straightened up.

" _Let's go_ ," Toothless and I whispered. I leapt up onto my brother's shoulders and beckoned the source. We jogged across the cavern of cages, the only sound being the clicking of Toothless' claws on the metal ground. The source was completely quiet and almost impossible to see, appearing as a floating pair of relieved, eager eyes that never blinked nor strayed from mine. With every glance backwards, its searing gaze was focused on me.

Toothless nudged the door open. We crept outside, and the source slunk out after us, its belly low to the ground. Even in the moonlight, I still had to strain my eyes just to look at it. The harder I tried to make sense of its form, the more it seemed to dissipate before my eyes.

"What the—are you—" Eret gasped.

The Color-Shifter re-formed directly in front of us, his back in a perfect arch, wide eyes locked on the source. The source, in turn, scuttled away, keeping close to Toothless and myself.

"You didn't _tie it up?!_ " Eret said, exasperated. "For the gods' sake, you even took the muzzle off of it!"

"We had to," I said. "Now come on. We need to get outta here."

Eret paused, glancing back out to the center of his armada. He sighed, and turned away with his brows drawn in and his jaw tensed. He stared out at the armada.

"...you didn't find them," I murmured.

"Not _yet_ ," he said stubbornly. "They can't be...no, we have to do one more sweep over. Just one more!"

I shared a grimace with Toothless and glanced at the source, which was still curled up behind Toothless and keeping a close eye on Eret and the Color-Shifter.

I honestly didn't know if we could get it to just tag along with us. If we could get it to stay _quiet_. If the five of us could stalk through the armada while everyone was still on high alert and _not_ be captured again.

Guilt plunged into my heart as I realized what we would have to do. I knew that part of being Kings meant making tough decisions—but that knowledge did nothing to prepare me for when that time actually came.

"Eret…" I began.

"So when's the best time, then?" He demanded, cutting me off in his frustration and whipping his head towards me to glare. "I've gone through the wringer to help you get your spooky friend there. Is it too much to ask for you to repay the favor?"

" _Soulfire…_ " the source whispered. It poked Toothless' hind leg with a small, pine-brown paw, and my brother yelped and shook his hind paw like he'd accidentally stepped in a puddle.

"Eret, please," I whisper-yelled, struggling to hold my resolve. "Believe me, _I_ want to find them, too. But how will we find them _and_ get them out of here, with the source with us? Dad's ship isn't even here!"

"I _know_ that," Eret ground out. "But it makes me _sick_ to finally be here again and abandon them, _again!_ "

For a moment, I toyed with the idea—and all it took was one look at the armada, filled with light from the fires and bustling with scrambling, panicked people, to put an end to it.

As King, it was my duty to protect those I looked after. Going into that was more than being risky and reckless—it was suicide.

The thought of abandoning all of the innocent people and dragons here _hurt_ , especially so because of our first-hand experience in the suffering they faced here. I wanted to help them, more than anything. I _wanted_ to blast through the armada, throwing cage after cage open.

But we didn't know where anyone was in this city upon the waves, even after Eret and the Color-Shifter had ghosted through a huge portion of it. We would barely have time to free the first song dragons, no less a whole cage of them or _cages_ of them. The armada had just been attacked, and would be on high alert probably until the sun rose and tore the shadows we hid in away. We would almost definitely be found first, and then what?

"I know," I murmured. "But we were insanely _lucky_ last time. If we slip up even once...I don't think we could escape a second time, Eret." I met his turmoiled eyes and continued in a soft voice, "Not without someone getting hurt, or even losing someone. I really, truly don't."

His face fell, and he looked back out at shadow-nest—and with a jolt, I realized that the Color-Shifter was, too. He was murmuring to himself, his eyes flicking here and there.

" _Four-Wing…Four-Wing…_ "

I cast a lost, helpless look to Toothless, one he returned with no small amount of guilt himself.

" _We are leaving_ ," Toothless growled. He sent a worried look behind him at the source. " _We_ have _to, while we still can._ "

The Color-Shifter tilted his head to listen. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and turned to face us.

"Please, _Saviors!_ " He begged, just before launching into the very same argument that Eret had just gone through. They hadn't been able to open all of the cages yet—there was still a chance that they had missed his Four-Wing somewhere.

In his desperation, the Color-Shifter threw his head and growled that we could go without them—and that he and Eret could continue their search alone.

Toothless snapped his head up. " _No!_ " he commanded, following it quickly with: do you _want_ to be captured again?

The Color-Shifter grimaced, ducking his head, and all but whimpered that he was sure his Four-Wing was _somewhere._

Toothless dropped his head, wings fluttering and tail swinging with urgent frustration. He took a breath to calm himself, and said with a gentle overtone, " _I'm sorry, Color-Shifter. But we_ will _find him after this._ " He lifted his head and looked the pained Color-Shifter in the eye. " _I promise._ "

With that, he flung his wings open and launched us off the edge of the ship. The Color-Shifter let out a surprised squawk.

" _Toothless!_ " I scolded him, although I wasn't sure what to say.

Eret and the Color-Shifter both glanced at each other, each identically frustrated and downtrodden. With a huff, Eret hung his head and patted the Color-Shifter. He lowered his head and arched his spine, tail flicking and wings fluttering, and sent one last glance out at the dozens and dozens of cages and song dragons littering the shadow-nest. He grimaced, squeezing his eyes shut, and then _slammed_ a clawed paw into the deck with a curse that was uncharacteristically vulgar for him.

He rose up to meet us, teeth bared in his frustration. Neither him nor Eret let their searching eyes leave the armada.

I shifted on Toothless' shoulders, looking down at my hands and hunching over with guilt. "I'm sorry," I said, feeling even more useless than I usually did. "I'm…I'm really sorry."

Eret paused...and sighed. "Don't be, lad," he said. He met my eyes, his gaze turmoiled but still not angry. "I suppose I shouldn't spring that on you when we have so little options. And..." He grit his teeth together and ducked his head. "It's time for me to face reality, after all. We snuck through damn near the whole midsection of the armada, and I didn't even see a hint of my men. Drago's a filthy liar...but he does tell the truth _sometimes_ , and only when it hurts the most." He shook his head with a dry laugh.

"Eret…" I said, at a loss for words.

He held up a palm at me, took in a calming breath, and straightened up. Without meeting my eye, he glanced downwards and growled, "Now tell your spooky friend to get a move on before we get caught."

My eyes widened. I looked down.

The source was trying its hardest to take off and join us. Yet with every attempt it took to spread its wings and pounce into the air, _something_ dragged it down. It wasn't the same kind of falling I had seen from Toothless countless times before, a few breathless moments of freedom before the unsteady air knocked him out of the sky. The source almost looked like it was too _heavy_ , like a massive paw was slamming it back down to the ground the moment it tried to take to the air.

A soft, keening whine rose from it.

" _No, no, no, no_ ," I chanted. " _Source, hold on_ —"

The formless creature tried once more to leap into the sky and meet us, its fog-like wings flailing. It plummeted like a stone. It landed with a pained grunt.

The source lashed its tail, lifted its head to the skies, and _screamed_. It was a bellow of pure suffering and torment. With its eyes locked behind us, it let out a wild plea for _something_ to let it fly again. Frustration seeped into its voice, and it paced in a circle below us, clawing at the air like it could grab a hold and climb up to us.

It was the loudest sound I had ever heard come from something that size. A hush fell over the armada. I could almost feel every eye turn towards us, sending a prickling sensation of crawling insects all over my skin.

A bolt of fear swept through me. Not again. Not again. We couldn't be trapped here again, we couldn't fail _again_ , not when we were _so close!_

" _Pick it up!_ " I gasped. " _Somebody, pick it up!_ "

Toothless was already diving. He landed on the deck, rose to his hind legs, and snatched his claws out. The source flinched away, eyes wild. Toothless' claws passed right through it. I leaned over Toothless' shoulder, reached out, and tried to grab it as well. Just like Toothless, my hand swept right through its body and nearly froze over.

My confidence left me as realization clicked into place. For whatever reason, the source could be held down, but not touched. It could be bound within restraints, but never feel the comforts of another dragon. With every attempt to reach it, it only made the other more numb to it, more incapable of getting close to it.

Which was _really_ inconvenient, considering we needed to _carry_ it.

" _Oh no, oh no_ , _oh no_ ," I whispered, jumping off of Toothless and darting towards it.

" _Hiccup!_ " Toothless yelped in protest.

The source pressed close to the deck with huge, terrified eyes, and held completely still as I grasped uselessly at it. I was forced to stop when my hands went so numb that they started to sting with pain.

There was the sharp, high sound of something whistling through the air. I flung myself down, bracing for the sting of an arrow or a dart.

A huge _thump_ , a cheerful greeting, and then I heard Astrid screech, "What the hell are you guys doing?!"

The source went rigid, its eyes baffled and fearful. I leapt up to my feet.

"Astrid!" I gasped. "Where's Dad?!"

She paused a moment, gaping at the sight of the freshly-unbound source. "He's—he's on his way," she said, righting herself. "I sent Snotlout and Hookfang to go get him right after you guys ditched us, just in case." Squinting at the source, she asked, "Why can't it fly?"

"I don't know," I groaned. "But we can't carry it, either."

Astrid pursed her lips and drew her axe from her belt in a single, smooth motion. "Well, that complicates things."

" _Of course. Why not?_ " Toothless moaned. " _What's the point of anything if it isn't too hard for us?_ "

" _Huh?_ " Stormfly asked. She sniffed at the source curiously, peeping countless questions at it. It was too distracted by Astrid to even look at her.

Men were shouting now. The voices were getting louder and louder as they got closer. The Color-Shifter, hovering above, cried out a warning:

They were going to swarm us.

I leapt onto Toothless' shoulders and arched my back, sharing a helpless look with him. Toothless took a few steps forward, standing protectively over the source as he faced the direction of the voices. He lifted his wings and slashed his tail through the air. Stormfly very quickly realized that now was not playtime and swiveled on her foot to face the oncoming danger.

" _Are you ready?_ " I whispered to Toothless.

The pounding of feet grew louder, so loud it began to vibrate the wood on the ship around us.

" _As ready as I'll ever be_ ," he returned.

There were two bridges in sight. My heart stopped as I saw a mass of armed men charge over them, all of them holding weapons or nets or dart-blowers.

" _Which is not a lot._ "

Toothless and I braced ourselves. Stormfly crouched low, her legs trembling just the slightest in fear. Astrid lifted her axe.

We were completely outnumbered.

The mass of men charged across the short length of the deck. I hunched my shoulders and lowered my head, baring my teeth with the beginnings of a snarl.

This had been my plan.

Battle cries erupted from both sides. Metal glinted in the moonlight and off the wild eyes of Drago's men, all of them gleaming with the same desperate panic that I felt myself.

As a King and Savior, it was my responsibility to keep my nestmates safe. Especially when I was the one to throw them into danger in the first place.

The charge was a breath away.

I wrenched my wings open as wide as they would go, sprung to my feet on top of Toothless' shoulders, and bellowed as loud as I could in dragon, " _STOP!_ "

The moonlight filtered through my wings and made them glow, sending beams of dim, warm light onto the shadow-shrouded advance. Standing atop Toothless, even _I_ towered over them, casting ghostly light onto all of them. Toothless froze underneath me—and then caught on, standing as tall as he could to lift me up higher.

Their eyes bugged out of their heads. The ones in the front dug their feet in, even if only for a second.

" _Monster!_ " I heard many of them gasp.

I bared all of my teeth, flaring my wings wider and leaning closer to them. I refused to let the words sting—not here, not now. Keeping my eyes locked on them, I screeched for all I was worth, " _COLOR-SHIFTER, NOW!_ "

A waterfall of fire rained down from the sky. The Color-Shifter appeared out of _nowhere_ and let loose all he had at once, enhancing his fire with magic so much so that it looked like golden beams of light were pouring from his maw. The night lit up with vivid flames, and the battle cries turned fearful and pained. Many men turned and ran as the literal wall of fire sprouted before them. It reached from one end of the deck to the other, effectively cutting them off from us and buying us several precious moments.

The source reared up onto its hind legs with a terrified wail. It backed away from underneath Toothless, scrabbling its formless paws across the sleek wood. In one smooth motion, I launched off of my brother and lunged for it, darting in front of it with my hands held out. It tried to swerve around me, and I blocked it again.

" _No! Wait!_ " I gasped, my eyes flicking up to the still-burning wall of flame. It was already starting to dissipate. " _Just hold on!_ "

" _SOULFIRE!_ " The source demanded. It reared up a little so that it was eye-to-eye with me and roared a command to give soulfire to it. It couldn't bear to be trapped again, it wailed, it couldn't spend a second more feeling like "this".

" _Please stay calm—!_ " I began, only to be cut off by another explosion. Shrapnel blew past us, and as I peered up into the sky, I caught a glimpse of Meatlug and Fishlegs buzzing out of sight.

Not a moment later, and I heard Ruffnut's voice, " _Incoming!_ "

Barf and Belch spat a stream of lighting-gas onto the deck and flicked a spark over their shoulder. The weakening blaze burst to life again, rising up just as tall and impassable as before. Now the men on the other side were clamoring with fear and fury, desperate to find a way in.

One man stumbled through, covering his head and gasping as every exposed part of him caught flame. Toothless ducked his head and charged, ramming into him with such force that he was thrown right back through the wall of fire. He spat taunts at the men and snapped his claws through the fire, keeping any who tried to do _that_ again at bay.

" _Hiccup!_ " He shouted over his shoulder between insults. " _Get us off of this damned shadow-nest!_ "

" _I'm working on it!_ " I returned, turning back to the panicked source.

In all the chaos, the source had thrown itself down, shaking uncontrollably. It looked like a tiny, foggy mass huddled in a ball. " _S-soulfire_ ," it wheezed, its eyes locked on the flames. " _Please…_ "

" _It is fine_ ," I tried to soothe it, dropping to four paws and reaching a hand out to it. At the last second, I remembered to use a comforting overtone and kicked myself for not thinking of it earlier. " _It is fine. It is fine._ "

The source gazed up at me, its vivid, glowing eyes swarming with fear and anger and jealousy…and also, if only a little bit, trust.

" _Okay! Let's go!_ " I said, ushering it back away from the flames, towards the edge of the ship. We couldn't carry it—but maybe...maybe if it...jumped on someone's shoulders? It was standing on the deck, so that meant it wouldn't just phase through them, right?

It was a horrible plan, but it was _all_ I had.

"Hey!" Eret shouted from above, far out above the ocean. "It's time to abandon ship!"

Toothless peered over at Eret, seemed to see something below, and drooped with relief. " _Oh, thank the Dragoness of the Moon,_ " he gasped. He spun around, scrambled over to me, grabbed me by my "scruff", and threw me onto his back. Without skipping a beat, he barked a sharp command at the source— _follow me!_ —and turned tail and ran straight for the edge.

"Wait, what about—" I protested frantically, twisting around to glance behind us at the source.

Astrid and Stormfly took off at the very same moment that Toothless leapt off the ship. The deck was left empty, save for the barricade of fire. In that very moment, _something_ shifted within them, forcing me to do a double-take.

Time slowed to a crawl in that eternal second. The fires parted like water around a dark form that seemed to suck the light right out of them. They curled around it, clinging to it with desperate claws, and fizzled away harmlessly to allow his passage.

Drago put down his Shadow-Blender cloak. Just like me, he had a single heartbeat to take in what was in front of him: Toothless and I still on his nest, and the small shape of the source following obediently behind us. He met my eyes.

" _NO!_ " he roared.

A brief freefall, and Drago disappeared from sight. We landed onto another deck—hard. The source plopped down right next to us with a squeak, having barely made it across the gap.

" _GO!_ " Dad's voice lifted from the head of the ship.

The Deep-Swimmer sent a scornful, smug hiss at the shadow-nest and crashed underwater. The ship lurched forward, and in a few exhilarating seconds, we were out of range of catapults and arrows. The Deep-Swimmer launched us forward with such a speed that Toothless was forced to dig his claws in or risk being thrown right off. Our nestmates did the same—all of them, even the Color-Shifter and Eret.

I whipped my head around, and my heart lifted. Everyone had made it on board.

Including the source.

I let out a breath I hadn't known I'd been holding. We blasted further and further away from the armada, and with each second we were further from its shadows, I felt more and more lighter, like the heaviness of it was stripping off of me second by second. Even then, the fear did not leave me, still anchoring me down there in those shadows. I could almost imagine that I heard Drago's furious screams, or see his hulking form on the edge of that blackened ship.

" _My plan…worked?_ " I gasped, almost unable to believe it. I stared at the armada like Drago would make it simply lift itself out of the ocean, smack our ship to bits, and laugh at us for ever thinking we could do something right.

" _Barely_ ," Toothless fake-grumbled. He purred, butting his head against mine. " _Of course, stupid. What you did back there was very surprising._ "

"… _wow_ ," was all I could manage, a small grin finding its way to my lips. I pressed closed to Toothless and purred. " _It...worked? Then, that means the source can..._ "

An unexpected and _very_ unwelcome blast of cold crashed through me. My good mood immediately dissipated in the shock of it.

" _Gah!_ " I yelped, leaping straight up into the air. Toothless snatched me right before I launched myself clear off the ship.

"Hiccup?!" Dad gasped, his hand flying to his hammer. He took several quick steps towards us, just as sure-footed on the ship as he was on land.

"No!" I held my hands out at him—and the other at the source, which had decided to give me a hard jab in the side with its freezing paw and then backpedal away. "It's not aggressive. Just...really bad at the whole 'communicating with others' thing."

" _Source,_ " Toothless addressed it. " _We helped you—now you help us._ "

The source stared. " _Soulfire?_ " it asked pleadingly, like a fledgling asking for more food after it had eaten its portion.

" _Call the song dragons to us!_ " Toothless pressed, the slightest bit of irritation tinging his voice. " _Now, while they can still fly away!_ "

The source blinked and cast a furtive glance around it, its wings fluttering. Our nestmates shied away from it, staring at it with baffled, cautious shock and leaving an empty circle around it. Our human nestmates were just as eager to steer clear of it, leaning onto the dragons to prevent being thrown off into the abyss of the ocean. Only Dad was able to keep his footing, taking slow steps behind the ethereal creature with suspicious eyes.

The source took all of this in with huge eyes. It whimpered, then growled. Shaking its head, it twisted towards me and Toothless, sat down, and narrowed its eyes at us. For a long moment, it studied us, those haunting eyes swirling with vibrant colors. It was still spooked, but that joyful hope it had displayed back in its cage still lingered there, almost like it was desperate to hold onto to it but knew better to.

After a long moment, it sized itself up, doing everything it could to make itself look just a bit bigger. It puffed up its chest, flared wings that melted into the night sky, and roared a command.

 _First, give me soulfire!_


	27. Chapter 25

**Hello, everyone!**

 **Chapter 25, my favorite number! Don't know why it is, but it is! So...yay for that!**

 **I actually managed to respond to reviews as well! Unfortunately, I only had time to do the reviews for Chapter 24...sorry about that! But on that note, I'd like to thank** **Viperclaw14, T-thenightfury, Saddmann, TheFuriousNightFury, CrisDLZ, Varghul, Enlil45, TheWhisperingWarrior, Samateus-Taal, Flopy, FyrandTheGryffinclaw, NightShadow9558, Razor95, greenone15, ObiBen213, Siganna, Crysist, and all anonymous reviewers for your wonderful comments! I'd also like to thank my beta Crysist for all your hard work on this chapter!**

 **Without further ado, I hope you enjoy this next chapter! Comments and criticisms are always welcome, and I hope you have a wonderful day!**

* * *

 **Chapter 25**

Toothless

The source shifted, doing everything it could to look firm and dignified. Our nestmates shot baffled, frightened looks between it and their Kings, and our human nestmates did the same.

I narrowed my eyes and pinned my ears. " _Want to try that one more time?_ " I growled. " _You seem to have forgotten that_ we _saved_ you."

Hiccup sent me a very clear "tone it down" look...that I promptly ignored.

The source narrowed its aurora-like eyes. Its tail lashed behind it and it sank into the shadows on the floating-tree. "You promised," it hissed.

Its voice set me ill at ease. It didn't sound _real_ —it was like an echo. Like it was talking far away, but all we heard was the distorted repeat bouncing off of our surroundings. It was a voice that was both present and not, dancing just at the edge of my perception, making me wonder if I had _really_ heard it.

It sent chills down my spine.

" _We did not!_ " I spat. " _Do you have_ any _honor? This wasn't a deal! We saved you to help!_ "

The source lurched away as if I had thrown all my fire at it. The King's paw flew to his weapons. Hiccup leapt between myself and the source, holding his paws out to both myself and the source.

" _Woah!_ " he yelped. " _It is fine—all of you._ " With one last, meaningful "cut it out" look at both myself and his father, he twisted towards the source and said in a muffled, gentle overtone, " _You have to call the song dragons from the shadow-nest to us. They can fly free now—but you have to hurry!_ "

That was assuming, of course, that the cages the Color-Shifter and 'Eret' had opened were still left unattended. However, as disastrous as our discovery on the shadow-nest had been, it might have distracted the humans from locking the song dragons up again.

Yet the meaning of my brother's statement seemed to fly right over the source's head. " _You_ _promised!_ " the source said urgently, its voice tightening with desperation. It focused wholly on Hiccup. "You _know!_ You know I need it! You know why!" Despair engulfed its voice and made its eyes glint in the dimming moonlight. "Was it…a lie…?"

Hiccup shared a wide-eyed look with me. He took a step closer to the source—and it skittered backwards. With a pained wince, Hiccup eased himself down to four paws and approached again, extending one paw towards the source. " _It is fine_ ," he said, overdoing his overtone again and muffling his words. " _Let's talk, okay? Can we talk?_ "

"Hiccup…" the King said in a warning tone.

"Just trust me," he whispered, eyes never leaving the source's, his paw still reaching. In a hush, he went on, "Everyone just needs to stay calm…and quiet…"

The source trembled, enormous eyes locked on Hiccup's paw. "You promised…" it choked, its voice thick and trembling.

Hiccup was in reaching distance of the source now. The tension on the floating-tree was almost palpable as he extended his paw closer and closer to it, as every nestmate, human and dragon alike, locked themselves into battle-stances. Everyone stared intently at the source, just _waiting_ for it to make a wrong move.

I took one half-step closer, and the source threw itself down the floating-tree with sudden terror. Hiccup blindly waved at me to stop. With a small warning hiss, I lowered my head and kept still.

" _We can help_ ," Hiccup said. He placed his paw on the source's forehead, and a shudder wracked through him. He added an urgent overtone, again doing it a tad too heavy. " _We_ want _to help. But we need_ your _help, too. Don't you want to save the other dragons from there?_ "

He threw his head in the general direction of the shadow-nest looming further and further away. The source's eyes flitted there for a moment—and it winced away with a pained grimace, as if the sight was too horrible to bear.

" _You can do it_ ," Hiccup whispered. " _You can help them, just like we helped you._ "

The source turned turmoiled eyes to him. " _My_ help?" it gasped. "I am _nothing_ —what help am I like _this?_ " It leaned into Hiccup's touch and begged, "Please… _please_ give me soulfire back…"

In that very moment, a stray, odd thought fluttered through my awareness—and then struck me, leaving me even more confused than I already was.

The source seemed not to have any troubles understanding our speech. Without realizing it, I had been mostly speaking in our modified language for Hiccup's benefit—a language that even older dragons such as Meatlug or the Color-Shifter had struggled to adjust to. Yet the source understood us perfectly. The only dragon that had been able to do that was…was…

…the old King.

" _Source_ ," I murmured, fighting to keep my voice calm. " _Why do you even_ want _soulfire?_ "

The source's piercing gaze tore into me. One could almost see its thoughts, wild and uncontrolled, swarm through its head.

Its eyes flashed with abrupt realization, and it wrenched away from Hiccup with a snarl. I rushed to his side in a single, smooth leap, and yet it didn't even bother to glance at me.

"You're lying!" it accused him. "Just like _them_ , you're lying! You want to use me! You want to lock me away!"

" _No—no, source—_ " Hiccup rushed, holding his paws up, struggling and failing to layer his tone with comforts.

Jealousy turned its voice to talons. "How can _you_ do this? Why do _you_ have soulfire, when you taunt me so?!" It opened its wings wide, letting them billow out into the deep, night sky, and it _bellowed_ , "You know what emptiness is! You know this pain! Why do you wish the same upon me?!"

I ducked my head, my ears ringing, a pounding headache blooming at my forehead.

"Saviors!" the Color-Shifter cried, lying on the ground and pawing at his ears. "Please, there is no reasoning with it! We must incapacitate it!"

The human King also spoke up, "Hiccup, we need to get that thing in the hull!"

" _No!_ " Hiccup gasped. " _Source—please, hold on—_ "

"Give me soulfire back!" the source cried. With despair, it wailed, " _All_ I wish is to heal! How is that wrong?!"

It took me a second to process that. The source…thought it was justified.

My patience, already worn too thin, snapped.

" _What about the dragons you have hurt?! When can_ they _heal?_ " I snarled. The source lurched away, bristling.

" _Toothless, no—_ " Hiccup said, desperately holding his paws at me and the source.

I had already started, though, and I'd had _enough._ To see something that looked so much like my brother spouting such cruel nonsense was simply _unacceptable_. " _You steal our nestmates from our home! You try to force control on everything around you!_ " I growled, pounding every paw to the floating-tree as I approached. " _You are_ not _trying to heal!_ "

" _Toothless, stop!_ " Hiccup hissed at me. The source was cowering behind him now, shrinking away from my advance with petrified eyes.

" _You are empty, and you force other dragons to be empty, too!_ " I raged. " _You feel pain, and you force pain on others! You put every dragon you control in danger! You say you want to heal, but you do nothing to move forward! You do nothing to heal yourself!_ "

The source squeezed its eyes shut with a tight whimper. "No…I've done everything, _everything!_ _You_ don't understand!"

"Then enlighten me!" I snapped.

The source peeked up at me from between Hiccup's legs, both frightened and angry itself. "You don't know what it is to be cursed like this," it rasped shakily, "to lose your very physical _being,_ and all by the will of the gods! To lose your own self and have it dangled just out of reach!"

A low growl began building in my chest. My tail crashed back and forth and my hackles rose.

The source drew away further. Frustration gave it the courage to meet my eye, and it accused me, "You don't understand! You don't know what it is to lose _everything!_ "

Pure, hot fury bolted through me. " _Yes! We! Do!_ " I roared, lighting my fire in my throat.

Vivid, white-hot flames reflected in the source's eyes, and it gave a high-pitched shriek. It fell backwards and curled up into a little ball, tucking its wings in and covering its eyes with its paws like a frightened fledgling. There in my shadow, it huddled as small as it could, desperate to hide from the fire seeping between my teeth.

For the first time in months, my brother raised his voice at me in genuine frustration. " _TOOTHLESS!_ " Hiccup scolded, rising to two paws, wrapping his paws around my neck, and trying to shove me back. " _Stop! This isn't helping! You're making it worse!_ "

" _You are a_ monster!" I screamed at the defeated source whimpering at my feet, all rationality lost. " _A monster that only causes hurt! A monster that takes dragons from their homes and pretends it is for healing! You deserve all the pain you feel! Now, for the Dragoness of the Moon,_ do! What! We! Say!"

My command echoed off the floating-tree.

It began to weep.

The satisfaction I felt at putting it in its place swept away as swift as my anger.

It looked so, so much like Hiccup used to. Curled up on the ground, small and vulnerable, it was the very image of that horrible day over a year ago. Of when the human King had snarled cruel, deep-cutting words at Hiccup, hunting and wounding him, leaving him so consumed with despair that it was all he could do to make it back to the cove in time.

Dragoness of the Moon, _why_ did it have to look so much like him? Why did its very purpose in life seem centered around plunging us into this confusing turmoil, where we could scarcely feel pity nor anger without consequence? Why did I even feel guilty at _all?_ It rightly _deserved_ my anger!

I knew the answer, of course—as much as I loathed it. As Hiccup had always been one to insist, the world hardly existed in stark rights and wrongs.

" _Toothless_ …" Hiccup murmured, his voice appalled and soft. He leaned into me, pressing his cheek against mine and somehow managing a comforting purr. " _It is fine...calm down, okay? It is fine…_ "

I huffed and loosened out of the battle stance I hadn't even realized I'd taken up. " _Sorry_ ," I murmured to Hiccup. My brother was quick to give me a stern, significant look that was all too clear: it wasn't _him_ who needed an apology.

"No…I'm not…I don't _want_ to be a monster," the source sobbed. "All of it was taken from me…all of it…I only wish to be safe, to—to regain _myself,_ and you—and you _have_ it…you're _keeping_ it from me…" It heaved, curling up even tighter. "I have no other choice…not like this…not when it all that I can do…"

I wanted like nothing else to pounce at it with my words, but I just didn't have the energy anymore. What was the _point?_ " _There is always a choice_ ," I sighed.

The source whimpered. "No…not for me…not in this cursed form…not when all I ever am is trapped, not when all I ever was has been ripped from me…even my body is but a mirage…all I have left is…is…"

A slow hum emanated from it, something soft and quiet, like it was trying to soothe itself to sleep.

The song.

Our nestmates and the Color-Shifter snarled. Stormfly hid behind Astrid, bravado forgotten. The floating-tree filled with the counter-song, drowning out the source's feeble voice.

The source, impossibly, shrunk into an even tighter ball.

"Hiccup," the King warned, paw clamped firmly around his hammer, suspicious eyes burning into the source. "Hull. Now."

Hiccup waved his paws at our nestmates and grunted a command to stop. They hesitated, confused, but did as they were told.

My brother's eyes held empathy in them, and I couldn't help but hang my head, ashamed at myself for lashing out in such an immature manner. We had rescued it to help the song dragons _and_ the source, not to beat it down and force it to do as we wished. In doing that, we would be no better than the shadow-monster. Or perhaps we would be even worse, for teasing the source with a sense of safety before forcing it to submit.

Disgust crawled across my scales at the thought—at the _truth_ —that, in that moment, _I_ had been exactly like the shadow-monster.

I deserved Hiccup's disappointment. Digging my claws into the ground, I vowed never to do such a thing again.

The source was quiet now, shuddering and struggling to breathe evenly, its breath still hitching every now and then. "Monster?" it whispered in a rattling voice. "Monster…?"

" _Let us help you_ ," Hiccup pleaded. He looked a little confused, but judging by his solemn expression, he had understood more than enough.

"…why…?" the source's broken voice rose from its tiny, bleak form.

Hiccup reached his paw out, letting it rest on the spot where the source's forehead most likely was. The small, impossible creature flinched.

" _Because you_ want _to heal, and that is more important than anything,_ " he said. " _But you need to be able to change. I know how hiding and forcing things hurts you. And you must know, too._ " He nudged the source and encouraged it, " _Now, come on. Let's_ talk _, and we can make a plan. Together._ "

For a long moment, the source did nothing.

Inch by inch, it lifted its head, its eyes glossy. They were frustrated and despaired and hopeful and jealous all at once. Above it all, though, was a sheer, tangible _desperation_. It looked worn-down, weary, panicked. It was as if it had been flying countless days and still had no land in sight, like it was flying over an empty ocean with nowhere to go but down, down into those cold depths.

I almost gave a bitter laugh at the cruel irony of seeing such an immensely _powerful_ creature truly and honestly think itself so _helpless_.

" _There you go_ ," Hiccup murmured. " _Now—_ "

"Hey, would you mind wrapping things up with the spooky cloud monster?" 'Eret' interrupted, his voice sharp and grating and wholly unwelcome. "You might want to think about gettin' it to call the infected dragons, because we got company!"

He pointed the way we had come, to the hulking shadow-nest lingering just on the horizon. From here, I could see that it was still broken up into its different components.

I saw them right away.

Two floating-trees were barreling through the waters as though they were made of the wind itself. They were halfway between us and the shadow-nest, but even at this distance, I could immediately identify three things. One, that they were much smaller than our floating-tree. Two, that each floating-tree had _several_ Deep-Swimmers attached to it rather than one.

Three, that they were easily moving at twice our speed.

As if jolted from a spell, everyone on the floating-tree snapped out of their frozen silence and leapt into action.

"Oh! Oh! Dibs!" 'Tuffnut' cried, jumping up and down. "I call left one! I call left one!"

"Unfair! We _just_ saw them!" 'Ruffnut' complained, snapping a paw out to snatch her brother's horns.

Barf-and-Belch's left and right quickly snagged their furs in his teeth and separated them, but his eyes lingered on Hiccup and myself, brimming with worry.

The Color-Shifter lurched to his feet, his teeth bared. 'Eret' eased himself onto his back, and the Color-Shifter was so preoccupied that he couldn't bring himself to complain. "Saviors, very little of my fire remains. I fear I will be of little use in combat," he worried.

"Well, _I_ have plenty to spare," Meatlug rumbled, nosing 'Fishlegs' onto her shoulders. "And my human knows just where to find their blind spots."

"My human's smart, too!" Stormfly crowed, standing beside a tense Astrid and puffing her chest up to look bigger. "And I have _lots_ of fire!"

"…m-me, too," Hookfang whispered, curling up behind Snotlout, who was busy arguing with the human look-alikes over who "got" to fight the floating-trees.

All of the squabbling and nervous clamoring fell deaf on my ears. I crouched beside Hiccup, who had never let his attention waver from the source, and glanced up at the equally-focused King. In this floating-tree full of chaos and arguments, the four of has had become as still and quiet as an undisturbed lake, holding our breaths for the slightest disturbance to send waves of ripples rocking through us.

" _Source_ ," I said. It flinched away like I had struck it. I sighed. " _I…should not have spoken to you like that._ "

The source peeked up at me and returned its eyes down to its paws, looking for all the world like a scolded fledgling.

Hiccup huffed at my "apology", but he didn't pester me to elaborate, which I took as a win. " _The song dragons, source?_ " he pressed, waving a paw to grab its attention. " _Can you call them? Can you free them like we freed you? Don't you want to help them?_ "

The source's gaze wavered behind us, back to the shadow-nest, and it crouched low to the ground as if we were right next to it. "Monster…" it whispered. Its eyes flashed with sudden realization. "I…put them there…didn't I?"

" _You did. Now get them out of there_ ," I said.

The source trembled. "The shadows…no…no…I can't bear go back…"

"Guys, they're getting a little _too_ close!" Astrid shouted at us, crouched and readied on an excited Stormfly's shoulders.

"Hiccup, Toothless, either get it to help or put it in the hull!" the King said.

I glanced over my shoulder. Our nestmates were all readied, the humans settled on the dragons' backs. The two hunting floating-trees were minutes away now, so close that I could make out the shapes of the humans crouched in wait atop the wood.

I whipped back towards the source. " _The song dragons! The ones you control!_ " I urged. " _Call them,_ now!"

The source met my stare and then clenched its eyes shut in concentration. A trembling hum rose in its chest, the very beginnings of its song. Hiccup and I leaned into each other, the both of us stiffening at hearing it so close.

The source rumbled for several moments, swaying on its feet, its form flickering wildly in the darkness. With its eyes closed, it was almost impossible to see; I would have never known it was there unless I had already been looking at it.

Its song grew steadier, louder. Yet something was off about it—there was _something_ in its voice now, some odd quality I couldn't quite pinpoint, that made it...different. The song normally lunged at any foothold it could, leaching into a dragon's mind like droplets of blood dispersing through water. Now, though, that dragging pull under the waters was almost absent.

Astrid gasped. With shocked delight, she exclaimed, "Keep it up! It's working!"

Hiccup and I whipped towards the shadow-nest. There, flickers against the starless sky, weak moonlight just barely catching their wings…

...song dragons were flying away from the shadow-nest, straight towards us.

" _You did it_ ," Hiccup breathed. Turning to the source, he encouraged it, " _There you go! Just keep_ —"

The song cut short. I spun around to face it.

The source had gone almost painfully rigid, its eyes glazed over and sightless, its pupils slit with terror. Even through the impossible inclarity of its form, I could make out the rapid, shallow, frantic breaths making its chest rise and fall as rapidly as a small bird's.

" _...source?_ " Hiccup asked, gently prodding it. It remained immobilized by fear, its eyes distant, somewhere else.

"No…" it whimpered, its voice so high with rising panic that it was nearly impossible to tell it had spoken at all. "No...no…not again...not again…!"

The source suddenly _screamed_ , rearing up and clawing at nothing, eyes wild and rolling.

My brother threw himself at me, clamping his paws around my ears. "Everyone, cover your ears!" He shouted, his voice muffled.

" _LEAVE ME!_ " the source wailed at its invisible assailant. It threw its head back and howled for all it was worth.

Our nestmates fell to the floor of the floating-tree. The humans winced, many of them grasping onto their dragon nestmates in an effort to shield them, sacrificing their own hearing in the process.

The source's call was short, but piercingly loud. After a few seconds, it faded. Just as I was about to send a thankful prayer to the gods that _that_ was over, it replaced its call with another: the song.

This time, it wasn't different.

My vision blurred. The buzzing-insect-thoughts-feeling came back. Hiccup tightened his hold and sang the counter-song, his own voice labored and desperate. I joined in, fighting to stay focused, to resist it just long enough to survive as we had on the shadow-nest.

There was a blur of movement.

The song suddenly stopped. I blinked, suddenly aware of every scale on my body, of the floating-tree rocking underfoot, and of the wind whirling past.

The King stood over the unconscious source, his hammer extended towards it in preparation to strike again.

Well, I suppose…that was one way…to stop it…

"D- _Dad!_ " Hiccup protested, letting go and lurching to his feet. He threw his paws out and pointed at the limp form of the source. "I can't believe you just knocked it out!"

"What?" He said. "I'll not have it take you from me again, Hiccup." His eyes softened. "I know you're determined, son, but sometimes…there are some things that can't be helped. Some _people_ that can't be helped."

Hiccup spluttered. "Yeah, but—but the source isn't one of them!We had it under control!"

The King simply raised an eyebrow.

"Speaking of under control…why are you lunatics so calm about this reconnaissance team _right on our tails?!_ " 'Eret' shouted, nearly tugging his fur out of his scalp. "Look! At! Them!"

As much as I hated that he was right, they _were_ getting a little close for comfort. I twisted my neck towards the front of the floating-tree and shouted, "Deep-Swimmer, we are being pursued! Two floating-trees!"

She did not respond—but if I concentrated hard enough, I might have noticed the slightest lurch of the wood beneath my paws. Our floating-tree sped up, even if only by a little bit.

"Chill, man, we got it!" 'Ruffnut' said, lazily flapping a paw and lounging backwards against Barf-and-Belch's spines.

"Yeah, you gotta learn to go with the flow," 'Tuffnut' said. "It really loosens up the nerves."

'Eret' ran his paws over his face in disbelief. "I'm going to die here."

"Oh, don't be such a _drama queen_ ," Snotlout chortled. He sat upright on Hookfang's neck as heroically as he could. "Hookie and I are ready to kick some _ass!_ Let's go, Hookie!"

Hookfang was still crouched low to the deck, wide eyes locked on the rapidly-approaching floating-trees. "I wanna go home," he whimpered.

"Guess I'm braver than you…" Stormfly fake-mumbled, pretending to look away.

Hookfang straightened up with a nervous scowl. "Are not!"

Stormfly narrowed her eyes and crouched, opening her wings. "Oh, yeah? Prove it!"

Just as the idiot yearlings were about to take off, Hiccup, Astrid, the King, and I all shouted, " _Wait!"_

Both yearlings stumbled and lowered their heads, shooting disgruntled, meek looks at each other.

"Everyone—just—just hold on. There's an easy fix to this," Hiccup addressed our human nestmates. "We need to cut off the Deep—the Sharkworms from the ships."

"Hiccup, I see catapults and net-launchers on those ships," Astrid said, her eyes locked on the approaching attack.

Hiccup and I glanced at each other.

" _Stay high, and some of us stay here to protect the floating-tree and source_ ," I grunted.

Hiccup nodded and translated, and I did the same for our dragon nestmates. The humans all glanced at each other, but they didn't protest, which I assumed meant that they agreed. I singled out Meatlug and the Color-Shifter and nodded at them to follow. With some reluctance—and a nervous glance at the approaching song dragons in the distance—I also gestured for Stormfly to join us. Astrid would keep her safe, and we needed her skill in battle.

"Hah!" Stormfly whooped, shooting a relieved Hookfang a smug look. He pretended to look sad, and she actually believed it. "Oh, don't worry, maybe next time!"

"You guys ready?" Hiccup asked, leaping onto my shoulders. Astrid grinned, 'Fishlegs' gave a nervous shrug, and 'Eret' rolled his shoulders.

"Wait, what about us?!" Snotlout protested, realizing a moment too late that Hookfang—and by extension, him—had been excluded from the flare.

I crouched low and spread my wings. "Our nestmates, to us!" I cried, launching us into the sky.

" _Understood!_ " they returned.

Far below, the King's voice rose, " _Be careful!_ "

We rose up and up into the empty sky. Myself, Meatlug, and the Color-Shifter blended in easily enough, but Stormfly's scales reflected the dimming moonlight like a beacon. The waters below were black, the only indication that they were there being the sheer-white froth from all the Deep-Swimmers charging through them. The two floating-trees indeed had human contraptions on them, several humans already crouched beside them and pointing them up at the sky.

As small as the floating-trees were, there were at least two dozen humans crammed onto them.

"I've got an idea!" Astrid said. "Stormfly, up!" She pointed a paw high, just above the floating-trees. Before we could so much as discuss her plan, Stormfly puffed up and sped away. Meatlug's eyes widened, and with a frustrated grunt, she gave chase.

"Dragoness of the Moon," I cursed. Hiccup shifted his weight to the side, and I took us in a wide-angle turn towards the side of one of the floating-trees. The Color-Shifter must have done the same, because the sound of his wings faded.

"Hey! Up here!" Astrid hollered below. "How are you gonna go back to Drago when you can't even get _one_ dragon?"

"Y-yeah!" 'Fishlegs' said. "I wouldn't go back, if I were you!"

Stormfly caught on at the very same moment I did, and squawked at the humans, "You're mean! And you smell bad! And you're _ugly!_ "

"I'm not a fan of this idea," Hiccup hissed, crouching close to me. I growled in agreement, closing my wings in and taking us into a stoop.

" _Fire!_ " someone shouted. Several nets flung into the air, and Stormfly and Meatlug simply lifted themselves higher, well out of range.

I flicked my igniter. My fire flung to the chain connecting to one of the Deep-Swimmers, sending a brilliant explosion into the night. Snapping my wings open, I banked in front of the fireball and back up into the camouflage of the black sky.

Not a moment later, another explosion lit up on the opposite floating-tree.

"No good!" I heard 'Eret' cry.

Hiccup and I looked down at the chains, the both of us growling uneasily. To my horror, they were perfectly fine—besides glowing ember-orange from the heat, there was no indication that I had struck them at all.

In fact, if anything…

I blinked in bewilderment as the Deep-Swimmers _sped up._

"Welp, that worked _great_ ," Hiccup said, exasperated. "New plan! We gotta— _look out!_ "

I saw the net a breath away and snapped my wings shut, plummeting below it. The wind it carried tickled at my scales. It had been close— _too_ close. With a sharp twist, I took us up higher.

Stormfly and Meatlug were still taunting the shadow-nest flare, our human nestmates screeching every insult they knew. The attacking humans were clearly growing desperate, wasting their shots in their anger, but there were still quite a few peering up into the sky in search of myself and the Color-Shifter.

In just a few seconds, the flare had nearly closed the gap between them and our floating-tree. We had one more chance.

I desperately searched for a weak spot, somewhere to shoot to sink the damn things. Every inch of the floating-trees glinted with the sharp, cold bite of metal. There was no room for error; I would not waste a shot when I knew it would not strike true.

" _What do we do?!_ " I gasped to Hiccup.

His eyes were wide, flicking back and forth frantically. " _The Deep-Swimmers!_ " he shouted.

I dove, pooling gas into my throat. There were at least six Deep-Swimmers attached to each floating-tree. They were leaping from the waters just long enough to breathe and to wheeze out a small fragment of the song. I took careful, careful aim—and flung a fireblast directly in front of them.

The ocean reared up and sprayed us with ice-cold water. I darted through the mist and rose up again, and my heart dropped at seeing how close _our_ floating-tree was. Barf-and-Belch and Hookfang had centered themselves at its rear, and the King was positioned at the chain connected to our freed Deep-Swimmer. The source was shifting ever-so-slightly, already half-awake.

The floating-tree we had targeted swerved in such a sharp turn that it tilted on its side, part of its underbelly creeping out of the inky water. The humans on-board screeched, nets wildly splaying into the air, and scrambled to grab onto something. I even saw one human fall off, sucked away into the ocean in moments.

The Deep-Swimmers continued turning and then took off in a straight line, wrenching the floating-tree out of its pursuit. That left only one heading directly towards our floating-tree, but already the other one was beginning to correct its course. The humans on it were pulling at the chains, forcing their captives into a much slower and safer turn.

"Nestmates!" I called. "Aim in front of the Deep-Swimmers!"

Barf-and-Belch readied their fire and Hookfang bared his teeth. Meatlug and Stormfly ascended and doubled-back, struggling to keep up with the accelerating charge.

Fire exploded from an invisible force in front of the remaining Deep-Swimmers, and the Color-Shifter swooped past. At the very same moment, the King grabbed the chains to our floating-tree and yanked it to the side. The enemy floating-tree jerked hard to the left, and ours to the right, taking it straight towards…

"Perfect!" Hiccup gasped. "We can lose them in there!"

A mile or so ahead, glimmering like small opals floating on the surface, was a forest of ice littering the ocean. Throughout our journey, the King had been swerving us around it to avoid the danger, but now he directed the Deep-Swimmer straight towards it.

I peered at the glaciers, many of them so close together that it would take the precision of a Shadow-Blender to squeeze our floating-tree through at _slow_ speeds. " _Are you sure?!_ "

"Dad's got it," Hiccup said. "Guys, fall back!"

"Alright!" 'Fishlegs' yelped, all too eager to disengage. Meatlug snorted a command at Stormfly to follow, and she led the reluctant yearling away from the second floating-tree, zipping back towards our own as fast as she could.

I glanced back towards ours—and gave a sharp gasp of surprise. The first floating-tree we attacked was on an intercepting course, lunging to cut ours off. At the speed they were swimming at, they would succeed.

Hiccup growled and made himself small on my back. I pumped my wings, the wind racing past sharp and exhilarating, my heart hammering in my chest.

My fire blazed into the ocean at an angle in front of the Deep-Swimmers. They swiveled on the spot and shot off in the opposite direction: straight towards the other floating-tree, away from the glacier-forest. A few seconds too late, and they would have crashed directly into ours.

They corrected too fast. A huge, metalling _CLANG!_ , a sharp tug, and the Deep-Swimmers pulled up parallel to our own. The floating-tree rocked wildly, the humans aboard squealing as each side dipped back and forth, sending huge waves cascading over them. By some miracle, they managed to level it out…right next to our floating-tree.

Side-by-side, it was a race to the ice forest.

A huge, metal-coated platform pounded onto our floating-tree. Barf-and-Belch and his humans screamed a battle-cry, Hookfang and Snotlout at their sides. Humans began pouring from the enemy floating-tree to ours, with the source still lying in plain view.

Blazing fire burst across the platform. Humans rushed through anyways, so desperate to fulfill the shadow-monster's orders. The King stood protectively in front of the source, crouched and ready.

The first human came upon him.

I plucked him right off our floating-tree, spun, and launched him far off into the night. Hookfang clambered underneath me, standing tall over both the King and the source, his scales sprouting fire and his eyes lit with true anger.

"Dad, behind you!" Hiccup warned.

I swiveled around just in time to see, to my horror, that the second enemy floating-tree had already caught up. Its platform crashed down right at the King's heels. Hookfang twisted around, gave a startled shriek, and spat a stream of fire onto it.

The first human charged through, and the King buffeted his blow, grabbed him, and threw him right into the ocean.

" _Let's go!_ " Hiccup gasped. " _The Deep-Swimmers!_ "

I took us up and forward, racing to the front of the floating-trees. Behind us, fire erupted around us as our nestmates spat flames upon the platforms. All humans that got through were met with the teeth of the dragons and the strength of the King. I even heard Snotlout and the human look-alikes join the fray.

Flitting about the floating-trees was a mirage—the Color-Shifter, hiding in plain view, snatching any human he could up in his claws and disposing of them with ease. I caught a glimpse of 'Eret' still on his shoulders, covering his blind spot.

But there were so _many_ humans—our small team could not hold this up for long, especially when we ran out of fire.

Hiccup let out a warning shriek.

Before I could even look, he'd launched himself off of me and directly into danger. _Again._

Dragon of the Sun, if these humans didn't kill him, then _I_ was going to!

" _Hiccup!_ " I shouted.

Moments afterwards, an enormous wood-claw the length of my wing throttled right through the spot he had just been. He snapped his wings open and flew straight towards the enemy floating-tree—and the human that had just shot at him.

Now my voice filled with fear rather than exasperation, " _Hiccup!_ " I flung my tail behind me and charged after him.

Hiccup crashed directly into the human, knocking him over from the sheer force of his speed. Once grounded, he leapt to his paws and scrambled towards the mechanism the human had been attending.

I launched into the floating tree, spread my wings to block Hiccup from view, and roared a challenge at the shameless, cowering humans that remained. There was a loud _CLANG!_ behind me, followed by the rattling of dozens of chains.

The floating-tree swiveled on the spot, heaving under the effort of such a rapid change in direction. I dug my claws in, struggling not to be thrown clear off the side. The platform ripped away from our floating-tree—sending many humans still on it falling to their deaths below—and then crashed into a stray ice glacier. Splintered wood and metal exploded in a cloud of debris.

A weight on my shoulders—and I launched us straight upwards, as far away as I could.

" _That was_ too _close!_ " Hiccup gasped.

" _You think?!_ " I snapped back at him. " _Don't scare me like that, stupid!_ "

"It wasn't _my_ fault," Hiccup grumbled. I swatted him with an ear.

With a sharp tilt of my wings, I swerved perpendicular to the ocean, back towards our struggling nestmates. Our floating-tree was dangerously close to the ice-forest now. Both ours and the remaining floating-tree flanked each other, our Deep-Swimmer somehow managing to keep pace with several more of her own kind. Now that there was only one platform to defend, several of our nestmates—human and dragon alike—had planted themselves in front of it.

Many of the invading humans had retrieved wood-claws of various sizes—something that even _fire_ could not completely defend against.

"Look out!" I shrieked, clutching my wings into a steep plummet.

" _Swim, Deep-Swimmer!_ " Hiccup called. " _Go! Go!_ "

The humans readied their weapons. Barf-and-Belch flared his wings in front of all of our nestmates and lit his fire, sending a mushroom-shaped fireball directly into their midst. Smoke billowed out over the floating-trees, hiding them from view.

My heart stopped.

Our Deep-Swimmer pummeled through the smoke, the smoke trailing on her fins, and flung straight into the glacier-forest. The floating-tree giving chase slowed down, but did not halt at the danger as we had hoped.

There in the forest, we had gained the advantage: our floating-tree sped up, while the other slowed down, the gap between them widening once more. The King used the chain to guide the Deep-Swimmer, tugging it this way and that to avoid each oncoming mountain of ice. He did it with practiced ease, as if he had spent his whole life racing between ice floats.

The same could not be said for the other floating trees. The one we'd chased off was turning in a slow circle so that it could resume its chase into the ice. The other was easing its way through, but still picking up speed. It was smaller and more maneuverable; once it found a rhythm, it would be upon us again.

Stormfly swooped to our side, panting for breath. "We won!" she cheered. "This place is cool!"

It was much more than that: it was _safe._ From above, we had a clear view of where everyone was. The glaciers rose astoundingly tall, like an elderly, forgotten forest nestled in the mountains. From the vantage point of the floating-trees, though, the forest was actually an enormous, almost-glowing canyon: a dangerous, freezing, sharp pathway that snaked through the ocean with unexpected turns. The ice was so large and tall that it formed a canopy in some places, forming tunnels.

If we could simply get our floating-tree out of sight of the others, then they would have no way of finding us.

I cast a worried look below. Our floating-tree was rather large to be moving through such a perilous environment at its speed, especially with the source in tow.

The King and Deep-Swimmer continued to curl our floating-tree around glaciers, sending a long, frothing wake through the maze. The floating-tree right at our tail followed that very path we carved through the maze, inching closer and closer. Glancing over my shoulder, I spied the one knocked off-course only just entering the ice-forest, so far off-mark that it was no longer a concern.

"They're gaining on us!" Hiccup shouted to his father. His voice carried off in the wind, and if the King heard him, he gave no indication.

Astrid glanced over her shoulder, shivering in the cold and eyes hardened with determination. "Then maybe we should inconvenience them, huh?" She waved at Stormfly to get her attention and then pointed backwards.

"Okay!" Stormfly chirped. She flung her wings open wide, halted midair, and twirled around. Astrid nearly lost her grip and slid off of her, and I would have had to catch her if Stormfly didn't lean forward at the last second. With an excited squawk, she barreled right back the way we'd come.

"Wait!" Hiccup cried. "What are you—" He suddenly cut off and said with surprised realization. "Oh."

" _What?_ " I asked, swiveling around. "Stormfly, hold on!"

Stormfly swayed lazily around the ice-trees, tongue lolling from her mouth. Astrid pointed at a glacier with a loud command, and the yearling eagerly flung a blast of fire into it.

The glacier cracked and then crumbled like loose snow, spilling down into the water. A small bout of fog rose up.

When it was cleared, the glacier had fallen down directly in the path—the path _our_ floating-tree had taken, still frothing and spiraling by the wake. The enemy floating-tree would have to find a way around, if they could at all.

"… _oh,_ " I said with a devious grin. Craning my head back towards our floating-tree, I cried, "Our nestmates! Follow our lead!"

It took merely a few minutes to organize everything.

The Color-Shifter and 'Eret' swooped above. They waited long enough for 'Eret' to map the tunnels in his mind and then swooped to the front of our floating-tree, leading it through the maze. Our nestmates followed suit, scoring the forest below for an opportunity, and the remainders flanked them.

I nestled down on a glacier and flattened myself to it. Hiccup shivered violently, clinging to me both to hold on and for warmth.

The Color-Shifter sped past, the floating-tree right at his tail. A glimmering froth shone in the waters as it passed.

Less than a minute later, the hunting floating-tree sped past.

" _NOW!_ " Hiccup and I commanded.

The floating-tree passed through a tunnel of ice. Our nestmates launched all their fire at it, lighting up a world turned black-and-white with brilliant light and color.

With a deep moan, the ice collapsed right on top of the floating-tree. A glittering cloud of ice-dust thrust into the black sky, filling the empty void with false stars.

I launched back towards it in a hush, skirting around it just to be safe. Barf-and-Belch settled on a glacier nearby, bore his claws into it, and flapped his enormous wings to clear the fog.

Chunks of ice and snow alike formed a small, frigid island in the ocean. Sticking out of it were bits of metal and wood. All was still.

Some debris shifted. A human burst out of it with a huge gasp, followed by another, and another.

"Good enough!" I shouted. "Close them in!"

" _Understood!_ " our nestmates cried. More explosions colored the darkness with vivid light. Avalanches barreled into the waters from all directions, filling the ice-forest with low, echoing roars. Mist flew up into the air again, but this time, I had no need to wait for it to clear.

With all escape routes closed off, I _finally_ felt a little more safe—at least from _these_ humans. With one last, disgruntled snort down at the stranded underlings, I lifted my wings and sprung back into the air. Our nestmates followed, but not before adding a little more sting to the humans' wounds.

"Good lu-uck!" Snotlout taunted. "I hope you packed extra sweaters!"

"Try not to get hypothermia!" 'Fishlegs' said.

"And do yourselves a favor!" Astrid added. "Don't come after us again!"

"We _won!_ " Stormfly whooped. She did a loop, then cringed and shot a guilty look over at her human that she had nearly just flung off and killed. "U-uh, sorry! I promise I'll be more careful _next_ time, for sure!"

Astrid shot us a worn, frazzled look.

The humans—and Stormfly—continued to fling insults behind them even as we flew well out of hearing distance. Hiccup, on the other wing, glanced backwards with a nervous growl, his eyes troubled.

" _I feel bad,_ " he murmured.

" _Don't_ ," I said. With the slightest bit of exasperation, I said, " _They're trying to kill us, Hiccup. And they're stupid._ "

"Does that mean you're gonna dump me on some half-sunken glaciers, too?"

" _I'm thinking about it_ …" I said, shooting him a thoughtful look. This earned at least a small smile from him, which was definitely more than I had hoped for.

We swept over the stark-white glaciers, skimming so close to their tips that I could feel the air temperature drop as we passed overhead. Our floating-tree had slowed down to what seemed like a leisurely stroll compared to its previous speed, meaning that it took little effort to catch up with it. The King, the Color-Shifter and 'Eret' were all that remained…and the source.

It groggily lifted its head as I landed with a _thump_. Its eyes were fluttering, and it still seemed too stunned to get up. Our nestmates landed all around us, and the source let its head fall back to the ground, eyes distant.

"Hiccup, did it work?" the King asked, still unwilling to leave his position at the head of the floating-tree.

Hiccup nodded, but he was shivering so much that it was barely noticeable. "Y-yeah," he said. "The other one is somewhere way over there." He pointed with his nose towards where we had last seen the other floating-tree.

The King narrowed his eyes. "Then we best stay quiet."

He and the Deep-Swimmer led us through the forest, and as they did, the air got more and more cold. Hiccup slid down and then curled up close to me, huddling beneath my wing. I wrapped my tail around him for good measure.

It brought me a small joy to see our dragon nestmates doing the same for our humans. Even 'Eret' was so cold that he tried to get comfortable next to the Color-Shifter. The Color-Shifter allowed him to lean up against him, but kept his wings snapped shut and his tail extended, avidly looking in the exact opposite direction of the odd human.

I kept my eyes to the bleak sky, straining them for the slightest indication of movement. Every now and then, I'd catch a glimpse of them, a flicker of reflected moonlight. Too far to be a threat, the song dragons continued to follow, still drawn to the source even though it had been stunned.

Worry plunged into my heart, chilling it just as thoroughly as the ocean about us. We had _hoped_ to convince the source to free the song dragons. Having it call them to us was better than nothing; at least we could get them off the damned shadow-nest.

But that meant the sea dragons were drawn to us, too. They weren't undeserving of being saved—great Dragoness of the Moon forbid—but they _were_ powering the shadow-nest.

One way or another, the shadow-human was making his way to Berk. All that mattered was that we got there first, even if only to evacuate the island and prepare those capable of battle. If the shadow-human beat us to our home, it would certainly be crushed underfoot by the sheer force of his nestmates. All we could hope was that crippling his shadow-nest, even temporarily, had slowed it enough.

The forest began to wane as I mulled over this. It dwindled away until we broke free of it and out into a long stretch of open water. About a mile out, a thick, flat field of ice hovered in the black sea. It was thin, barely a winglength wide, and the ocean could be seen just behind it.

The issue was that our tiny floating-tree had no means of breaking through. Craning my neck, I grimaced at seeing that the ice barrier was too wide to skirt around, encircling the entire ice forest like it was spreading wings around it to protect it.

The Deep-Swimmer pulled us to a stop just a little bit into the open space and poked her head out of the water. "Hey, Saviors—that's what you two are called, right? What's the plan with this little problem up this way?"

Hiccup and I exchanged a look, and then the two of us turned to the King.

The valley was wide, open, vulnerable, and, worst of all, impassable.

The realization came to me at the very same moment that the Color-Shifter stiffened and warned, "Saviors, out there!"

He'd been staring off to the side—and so he saw the very moment that it happened. The very moment that the other floating-tree burst out of the ice forest at full throttle, swung to the side, and sprinted right towards us.

The Deep-Swimmer cackled. "Still on the hunt, huh?" She shot us a wicked grin that I did _not_ like. "Well, maybe I should show them just what kind of dragon they've lost!"

"Deep-Swimmer, _wait!_ " I said.

"Watch, and see what excellence you shall never have again!" The Deep-Swimmer crowed across the waters, her voice so deep and loud that it sent ripples through the water.

She plunged underwater.

Our floating-tree _stormed_ towards the thin field of ice. It lurched so violently beneath us that all of our humans were nearly thrown off. Even the _King_ lost his footing, stumbling close enough for me to extend a wing for him to hold on to.

The wind raced past us like we were flying. The water turned silky-smooth around us, blurred by the sharp speed of the Deep-Swimmer's charge. Every single dragon dug their claws in and crouched low, desperate to hold on as the great gusts of wind threatened to fill our wings and launch us backwards.

Worst of all, the other floating-tree lurched forward, too—directly on a collision course.

" _Deep-Swimmer!_ " damn near every dragon screamed, Hiccup and myself included.

" _Hiccup!_ " all of the humans screeched, as if he could possibly convince her to stop.

They were gaining on us. In our dead charge, it would take a minute to reach the ice—and a minute for them to reach it, too. The floating-tree flung nets and stones in the air, but our Deep-Swimmer was moving too fast.

I blinked, and the narrow wall of ice was a breath away. I could see the eyes of the other floating-tree's captives, the metal glint shining from the weapons in the humans' paws. At the head of it, I could see a huge, metal spike—one that even _I_ knew was for gouging other floating-trees.

Horror sunk my heart as their song-enraptured Deep-Swimmers dove beneath our floating-tree, just a couple dozen feet out from their own.

They were going to ram right into us and rip our only means of escape to splinters.

Our floating-tree lurched one last time and, impossibly, went even _faster_ —straight towards the sheer wall of ice in front of us. It was half the height of our floating-tree and about as wide, and _ours_ wasn't outfitted with metal. There would be no charging through that.

" _DEEP-SWIMMER!_ " I howled.

The ocean bulged, catching the moonlight and shimmering almost painfully bright. A huge froth burst around the form of the Deep-Swimmer. She reared up out of the inky water—and then she _kept going._

My jaw fell open as she rose higher and higher into the air like a flighted dragon, water raining from her sleek scales, her eyes glowing with confident excitement, cackling the entire way. The chain pulled taut against her. She lifted high, high above the ice shelf…

…and so did our floating-tree.

Humans and dragons alike gasped in amazement. Hiccup launched at the source, threw his body over it, and covered it with his wings just before it slid off.

Our floating-tree _flew._ It raced straight over the narrow ice shelf, its belly just barely skimming over the edge.

The other floating-tree roared past, having been going so fast that there was no hope of stopping. A huge splash ahead signaled the Deep-Swimmer's return back into the water, having crossed the thin platform.

With an enormous _CRASH!_ , the floating-tree landed at the ice's edge and crushed through it, rolling and rocking with wild abandon. Frigid water sprayed over it, soaking everybody in brine. It only paused for a second—and then the Deep-Swimmer took us further out, using the last of her speed to her fullest.

When the floating-tree finally came to a stop what felt like hours later, my heart was pounding and I was breathless. The ice forest looked small on the horizon, and the other floating-tree had come to a stop, stalling in the valley.

The smug voice of the Deep-Swimmer filled the shocked silence.

"Hah! The fools, they forgot!" she gloated, craning her head to our eye level on the floating-tree.

"What, that you're _insane?!_ " I heaved, glaring at her. "No wonder they left you behind! You could have very well killed us back there!"

This only made her wild, mischievous smile widen. "Oh, I tell you what, little sky dragon—you seem to need a reminder yourself!"

"He is a _King!_ A little respect, if you would please!" Meatlug scolded her, aghast. Barf-and-Belch growled at her side, still too breathless to say anything.

I rolled my eyes and glanced at Hiccup, who was only just inching off of the source. The source remained more or less motionless, eyes half-lidded and glazed. "And what is that?" I said.

"We dragons have more than just brute strength and fire!" the Deep-Swimmer cried. "For we have magic, and do you know what that means, sky dragon?"

"I have a feeling you're going to tell me anyways," I huffed.

The Deep-Swimmer raised her head to the starless, bleak sky and laughed, "It means the gods are on our side!"

 **o.O.o**

Astrid

"Don't look at us!" Hiccup exclaimed, rising out of a four-legged crouch and throwing his hands at the Sharkworm. "We had _nothing_ to do with that!"

The Chief turned his exasperated glare to the Sharkworm, which was nearly glowing with pride. With a puff of its nostrils, it dipped back into the water and began to take us at a _normal_ pace.

"What—the— _hell?_ " Eret groaned, clinging to the colorful dragon as tightly as he could. "I have _never_ seen a Sharkworm do that!"

The colorful dragon lifted a paw and tried to pry Eret off of him. When it didn't work the first try, he slapped his paw out and smacked him off. With a yelp, Eret twisted and just barely caught himself. He sent the dragon an annoyed look, which the dragon pretended not to see.

"That was _awesome!_ " Ruffnut whooped. "Somebody turn it around so we can do it again!"

"Um. No." Fishlegs slumped against Meatlug, so out of breath that I would have thought he had been the one pulling the ship. "I need. Five minutes. Of nothing. No action. No chasing. No shouting. _Nothing._ "

"See, that's your problem," Tuffnut said. "You set these…these _standards_ that are just impossible to meet."

"Kinda like why you can never get a date? Ya can't even meet low standards?" Snotlout said, leaning against Hookfang's side and examining his fingernails.

Tuffnut lunged for his friend—only for Barf to snap his jaws out, drag him away, and seemingly scold him with a hiss. Ruffnut whooped with laughter and clammed up when Belch set her with a suspicious look.

I fought for my own breath, my heart still beating a little too fast for comfort. Holding onto Stormfly for support, I managed to unsteadily rise to my feet and get a good look behind us.

It seemed that Fishlegs would get what he wanted—the ice bridge was impossible to cross without a crazy Sharkworm willing to launch your ship out of the _freaking ocean._ The bridge wrapped far out to the horizon on both sides. For now, we were safe.

The Chief was quick to take the opportunity to figure things out. "Alright. _Here_ is the plan," he said. "We're still a few hours out from Berk. And if what Drago said is true, we're already too late."

You could almost feel the good mood get sucked off the ship.

"Hiccup—get that thing down in the hull."

Hiccup grimaced. "But—"

"If it's awake, then it can try to infect you again," the Chief said. "It tried just before we were tracked, and I'm not giving it a second chance."

"Dad, I really think that'll just make it worse," Hiccup protested. He glanced down at the monster, which was barely conscious but still looked nice and comfy right next to him. "We were making good progress with it before. And it'll shut down if we just lock it up like it was on the armada. Just…trust me."

The Chief leered at the source. "…very well," he said grudgingly. "Astrid, stay near that thing. In case it tries anything."

"Right, Chief!" I said, stepping closer to them with Stormfly prowling behind me. I settled down next to Hiccup and withdrew my axe, letting it rest in my lap.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Hiccup glance at it and stiffen—if only for a second. "It—it won't try anything," he stuttered. He gestured at the tiny, limp thing and drawled, "Being knocked out via hammer will do that to you."

The Chief lifted an eyebrow. "It needed to be done. I won't stand by and do nothing while it tears you away."

"We had it under control," Hiccup grumbled. Toothless looked...less confident, but still nodded anyways.

"And that brings up the next thing," the Chief said. "Can you explain everything that happened right before we were spotted? What made it panic in the first place?"

Hiccup summarized it as best as he could, but he was still a little confused himself—not because he had trouble understanding, but because the source just didn't make _sense._

What I took from it was one thing: that the source had said some pretty weird things, it had been asked to help us, it _seemed_ to have tried, but then _something_ stopped it—or, rather, something had terrified it enough to make it stop. That wasn't exactly great.

With this in mind, the Chief thought for some time and then went over a revised plan with us. The Bog Burglars and their allies were likely already close to Berk. Drago was following right behind us, but for now, we had the lead on him. The source had managed to free some of the song dragons, and while _they_ were now safe...well, _safer_ , they were still just as dangerous as before. I couldn't see them, but apparently Toothless was keeping a close eye on them and they were ever-so-slowly getting closer.

We sailed into the shadows, with no other choice than to feel tense and uneasy. We were rushing right out of one battle and straight into an even bigger one.

Hiccup and Toothless tried to rouse the source in the heavy stillness that followed our escape. Both of them pawed at it, rumbling with identical croons and thrums, but it only ever mumbled in response. For some time, the only sound creeping around the deck were the dragons...and Hiccup, who I would have mistaken for Toothless if I hadn't been watching the whole thing.

"Still not used to that," Eret said at one point. Hiccup ignored him, eyes locked on the unresponsive source.

"Cool! Nobody cares," Snotlout snapped. The tension and lack of sleep was getting to him; his eyes had heavy bags underneath them, his hair was ragged, and he was holding tight onto Hookfang. His companion tipped his head and curled up around him.

I tried to keep my hopes up, keeping Stormfly close for the both of us. If I was really honest with myself, my thoughts were just as bleak and dark as the night around us. We were up against an entire armada _and_ a couple of Viking tribes to boot. Half of our dragon nest remained, and our village would have no warning. The source was uncooperative at best, wildly dangerous at worse, and now it was barely conscious.

The Chief never left his place at the front of the ship, guiding the Sharkworm towards Berk as fast as we could. That didn't stop him from shooting a worried look over his shoulder every minute or so, hard eyes lingering on the source like he was just daring it to try something.

For a long time, we skirted the endless black.

The uneasy silence shattered the moment the source woke up.

It squeaked and bolted upright so suddenly that Stormfly squealed and leapt to her feet. The source swiveled towards her, glowing eyes enormous. Then it noticed me, caught sight of my axe, and scrambled away with a frightened yelp. It stood in the middle of the deck, back perfectly arched and wings splayed, spinning in a tight, frantic circle.

Hiccup was up and at it in moments, crooning and rumbling at it. He stayed crouched on four feet and inched closer with an extended hand, his untucked wings making him almost look like a Monstrous Nightmare. He moved fluidly, with an almost kind of stumble-y grace, like he'd spent his whole life walking like that.

Even though it wasn't the first time I'd seen him act so much like a dragon, it set off involuntary alarm bells in my head that something was off. Despite everything I knew and believed, it was still _weird_ to see him move and make noises like that, like he was a Night Fury with a human face. Which was ridiculous, because he would always perch on Toothless back on Berk, and I had heard him talk to Toothless before—why was it so strange _now?_

It took me a moment to realize: Hiccup had never been comfortable enough to be himself around us before. Sure, I had _known_ he was like this, but up until now, I'd never really seen it. He hadn't let _anyone_ see it. Not except when he'd had no other choice. To see him finally break out of his shell around other people, and not just me, was...not _surprising_ , but like something I had been waiting for without even knowing. In that moment, despite the weirdness of the situation, I was happy for him.

So when Eret opened his mouth to make another comment, one eyebrow lifted high and eyes locked on Hiccup's odd but _almost_ natural movements, I caught his eyes and firmly shook my head. Even the Chief was watching with grim acceptance.

Toothless hovered behind Hiccup, lowering his head to be on Hiccup's eye level. Together, they managed to call the source's focus. It took a lot of convincing, but the small fog-like creature calmed down some. After giving one final growl at basically everyone, it crept back towards Hiccup and me.

Literally every single person on-deck let out a breath and let go of their weapons. The dragons stared unblinkingly, some of them lifting their lips just a little to show the smallest flash of teeth.

The source suddenly stopped and leered at me.

"Your axe," Hiccup whispered without looking over.

I inched a hand down, took light hold of my axe, and slid it off of my lap and out of sight.

The source hesitated. Step-by-step, it stalked closer to Hiccup, giving me a wide berth. It nestled down next to him, shooting wide-eyed looks around the deck and the ocean. Once it was sure the coast was clear, it craned its head to peer at Hiccup and Toothless and let out a small, keening whine.

"Hiccup?" I whispered. "What's it saying?"

Hiccup hesitated a moment. "It still wants soulfire," he sighed. "It thinks we promised it. Or...I actually think it just really _hopes_ that we did, and it's trying to just force that to be true."

"Well, at least it seems to like you. Sort of," I said. " _Why_ does it want soulfire?"

Hiccup frowned. "We've asked it that a couple times now," he murmured. "It seems to think that it already told us, and that it'll make it whole or...heal it somehow." He hunched over to get closer to it and hummed deep in his chest, a sound that matched Toothless' voice almost perfectly. The source tipped its head aside, narrowed its eyes, and squawked. Even I could tell that it was starting to get more persistent, more agitated.

Something about the sight struck me. An exhausted, ragged young man, outfitted with wings and crouched like a dragon, his voice blending in seamlessly with the actual dragon at his side. A frightened, small creature with an impossible form, unperceivable save for its vivid, emotive eyes, lifting its head and begging in a small voice for something that it thought would make it better.

"It's like you," I murmured without even thinking.

Hiccup cut himself off short just so he could give me a confused look. Toothless narrowed his eyes at me. The source followed their stares and curled up a little further away from me and closer to Hiccup.

"Um…what?" Hiccup said, sounding kind-of offended. He gave me the benefit of the doubt, "You mean it looks like me?"

I cringed a little guiltily, but I wasn't about to back down and lie. "No," I said. "I mean…it just…I don't mean you're like it with the whole song or anything! It's more like…like…"

I struggled to find the right words, some way to say it that made it _not_ sound as terrible as it seemed in my head.

"It's lost something."

All of us turned back to the Chief. He still had his back to us. His shoulders were drooping and his head was bowed.

"Something that was part of it," he went on in a soft, heavy voice. "Something it feels it cannot live without, at least to be happy."

Hiccup stared at his father, both surprised and solemn. It was like it was something he expected, but wasn't ready to hear yet.

A beat of silence passed. I glanced at Snotlout, who was quick to make a face that screamed, "this _sucks!_ "

"Well, then…" Hiccup began.

The Chief stiffened, took a moment, and turned around to face him. Hiccup offered a small, sad smile.

"…then that means that I might be able to help it," he said. "If it's really like me, or how I was...well, how I still _am_ , in some ways." He turned to the source and reached out a hand, trembling from the cold. The source leaned into it, seeming to savor every second of contact it had. "It just needs someone there for it."

Toothless pressed up close to Hiccup with a purr, and he returned it.

The Chief, on the other hand, looked genuinely surprised. "Right," he said. His shock gave way to guilt. "Even...even if it is late."

"We're not late," Hiccup said, looking his father in the eye. "Not when we can still help."

The Chief actually smiled at this.

Ruffnut leaned in close to her brother and whispered, "Wait, are we talking about the spooky fog monster or them?"

"Sh!" Fishlegs hissed, taking notes in his sketchbook like there was no tomorrow. "You're ruining the _moment!_ "

"I'm kinda confused, too," Snotlout admitted. Hookfang nosed him, and he huffed, "Hookfang, I don't have any food!"

"Yeah, can someone please explain this elephant in the room to me?" Eret groaned. "At this point, it's just annoying not knowing." He leaned against the colorful dragon, and this time, he was allowed to stay…for an extra minute. The dragon knocked him right off with a snort, and Eret was forced to find space somewhere else.

Toothless made a big show of huffing and rolling his eyes. Hiccup shared a small smile with him and returned his attention to the source, murmuring to it with soft clicks and warbles. It lashed its tail and fluttered its wings, only stopping when Toothless all but loomed over it and grunted at it. Stormfly tried to approach it to smell it, and I grabbed her and held her back.

During all of this, the Chief readjusted himself and returned to his watch afar. He spied out the horizon—and then froze.

"We're here."

Everything stopped.

"And…?" Hiccup said.

The Chief snapped his spyglass shut. He turned to face us.

Just from the look on his face, I knew before he even opened his mouth.

"The invasion's begun."


	28. Chapter 26

**Hello, everyone!**

 **I want to apologize for the delay. The past few weeks have been incredibly stressful for me, but I want to thank everyone for being so understanding. Also, congrats to those who are done with finals, and good luck to those who still have some to take! Think of this as a reward for it!**

 **I'd especially like to thank 10Blue10, sadddmannn, TheFuriousNightFury, Viperclaw14, Blindhawk, CrisDLZ, Surprise Crayfish, Flopy, HawkTooth, TheWhisperingWarrior, FyrandTheGryffinclaw, NightShadow9558, Varghul, Samateus-Taal, Crysist, and all anonymous reviewers for your kind and thoughtful reviews! Also, I'd like to thank my beta Crysist for all of your hard work on betaing this!**

 **I hope you enjoy this next chapter, and have a wonderful day! Critiques and reviews are always appreciated!**

* * *

 **Chapter 26**

Hiccup

Not a moment after Dad spoke, a small sun burst to life, hovering above the ocean. _Dozens_ of Viking ships hidden in deep darkness materialized in the growing golden light as they all lit their catapults in unison.

A heartbeat passed where the ships—at least twice Berk's force—seemed to unfold daylight upon their decks, like they were carrying ethereal lanterns that dotted the ocean with burning stars.

" _No,_ " I gasped.

The catapults unloaded. At this distance, it looked like scores of shooting stars arching up into the sky. The meteor shower rose into the air and descended on Berk. Explosions washed the island with light, giving the deception that the sun had actually risen.

I didn't know what was worse: that we were so far away that the explosions were silent, brilliant spots on the horizon, or that we were just close enough to see it happen and not be able to do anything.

"Let's go, guys!" Astrid commanded. She leapt up onto Stormfly beside me, and the others scrambled onto their companions' backs.

All of the dragons hesitated a brief moment, looking to Toothless and myself—and the source.

" _GO!_ " Toothless and I ordered.

All of our nestmates rocketed up into the inky black sky, leaving our small boat rattling and lilting back and forth. The source cowered, curling up against my side and sending a wave of cold spilling over me. The Color-Shifter snarled and ducked his head, allowing Eret to hop onto him with ease.

Dad's expression had turned to stony rage—something that sent a bolt of sharp, unwelcome fear slamming through my heart. He whipped around and pulled hard on the Deep-Swimmer's ropes. She hesitated for the sheer sake of asserting her own independence—and then took off, moving even faster than before now that so few of us were left.

" _Damn it_ ," Toothless cursed. " _Hiccup, we need to_ —"

He cut himself off, blinking at the petrified source. We locked our eyes, the both of us silently asking the same question: what would we do with it?

"How long until we get there?" I asked Dad, crouching low and reaching a paw out to it. The source slunk under my arm and hid just beneath the folds of my wing. It peeked out from under the folds of fabric, its eyes locked on the distant fires.

"A few minutes," Dad growled.

"Are you people _crazy?!_ " Eret gasped. "That's not a fleet, it's just another, smaller armada!"

"We've dealt with worse," Dad shrugged off. He turned to me. "Hiccup, Toothless, go. The dragons need you there to organize our defense. I'll take care of that…thing."

Toothless and I shared a glance.

Crouching down it its eye level, Toothless murmured to it, " _Source, do you trust us?_ "

In a shrill, breathless voice, it gasped another weak, desperate plea for soulfire. In a thin, unsure voice, it whimpered that soulfire could keep it—keep _us_ —safe.

" _We're a little busy_ ," Toothless ground out. " _We have not hurt you. We have not trapped you. We are trying to help you. And we need you to trust us._ "

The source trembled. Its fog-like, pine-brown scales seemed to blend perfectly into the deck, its vibrant eyes seemingly floating in the darkness.

" _Stay here with this human_ ," Toothless commanded it. " _He will keep you safe._ "

He pointed his nose at Dad, who had come over and crouched on the heels of his feet to get a closer look at it. The source's eyes widened and noticeably flicked to the hammer on his belt.

I leapt up onto Toothless' shoulders, my heart hammering and my limbs shaking. The source whimpered, scrunching up on the deck and doing everything to make itself even smaller.

Small fires burst into sight as what little remained of our nest launched their counter-attack. But they were disorganized without their Kings, and the fear and shock had taken a tight hold on their hearts. Many stayed in the village, flitting about the toppled buildings, and the few that attacked the invading forces barely made a dent.

I swallowed, resolved, and turned back to the source. " _We'll be back_ ," I promised it. " _Stay with him, okay?_ "

The source stared at me as if I had chained it up, its eyes swimming with fear and confusion and betrayal.

"Okay?" I pressed.

It nodded ever-so-slightly. I turned to Dad.

"Are you sure you've got this?" I asked.

Dad nodded and patted his hammer. "If anything goes wrong, I know what to do."

" _Dad_ ," I groaned.

"What? It works," he said. His expression hardened. "Please, Hiccup be _careful_. No leaping off of Toothless unless you have no other choice."

"And no smacking the source with your hammer unless you have no other choice," I returned.

Dad reached out, hesitated a second, and squeezed my shoulder. He put his other hand on the nape of Toothless' neck.

In the distance, our nestmates reached the ships—and unleashed their fires upon it. We were close enough now to hear the explosions…and the dozens of human voices that cried out in alarm.

One final glance at Dad and the source—and Toothless and I sprung into the air. An alarmed shout from Eret behind us signaling the Color-Shifter following us, all too eager to distance himself from the source.

We sunk into the smoke-choked sky, Toothless pounding his wings as if we were racing an avalanche. I pressed close to him, digging my weak and blunt claws into his scales just to hold on, squinting as the sharp wind lashed at my eyes and roared in my ears.

A sudden shift in heat, and we swooped over the invasion. Dozens of ships, all of them decorated with familiar sails. Sails that I had studied closely in my time as a slave, as a monster.

Sails of tribes that I had single-handedly crippled, in many cases.

My stomach churned at the sight. The shadows sneered and curled at the edges of my vision.

This close, I could now hear the bell of Town Hall ringing with wild abandon. The foreboding sound sent an automatic wave of fear prickling down my spine. From here, I could distinctly hear children crying and villagers screaming. Below, a force that far outnumbered our own roared battle cries at our nestmates.

My chest heaved with thin, frantic breaths. This high up, speeding along the depths of the night, the back of my throat clogged with smoke, the sound of fire crackling and hungrily eating away at anything it could, the screams of the wounded…

…and it was _our_ home this time.

Toothless snapped me out of it, " _Hiccup! It is fine! I'm here!_ "

Before I could answer, he gasped and snapped his wings aside, swerving away just in time from a flaming load of a catapult. It crashed directly into one of the invading ships below, punching a hole straight through its upper deck and violently rocking it. The sail—that familiar, horrible design—went up in flames.

" _It is fine_ ," I ground out, forcing myself to turn away. A sudden thought came to me, "Wait…are they shooting at _themselves?_ "

" _FIRE!_ " a familiar voice seemed to cry out in answer. Another catapult lit up just at the front of the invasion, firmly within Berk's bay.

Gobber pointed, and one of _Berk's_ catapults let loose, flinging a flaming rock back into the armada. He was standing on one of our own war ships, another one flanking it. It was as if they had expected the attack and had been lying in wait, ready to cut off the invasion from making landfall. Dad had told us that he had sent them home before sailing to the old King's nest; it seemed that they had just barely beat the invasion to our docks, preventing them from swarming our island.

Somehow, the sight lifted my heart. I shook off the shadows clamped tight around my thoughts and gasped, "We gotta keep them from getting on Berk! We need to sink the ships—fire at their undersides!"

Toothless growled in understanding, whipped his tail below us, and rose high above the invasion and our island. With a perfect view of our burning home and the multitudes of ships below, he roared, " _OUR NESTMATES, TO US!_ "

For a brief moment, the battlefield went silent save for the crackling of the fires and the sloshing of the ocean.

Our nestmates on Berk snapped their heads up. I sat up straighter on Toothless' shoulders so that they could see me.

Their eyes filled with light, and with joy and relief and wonder filling their voices, they answered, " _UNDERSTOOD!_ "

Less than half of our nest remained, and still their combined voices made them seem twice our original size. Uplifted at the sight of both of their Kings returned in our darkest hour, they charged upon the invasion, flinging magic-fueled fire with everything they had.

Toothless shouted a quick command down to them, relaying my orders to them, and then tucked his wings. The front of the invasion was nearing Gobber's ships, and they were much bigger. Judging by the speed they were moving, they were planning on just ramming through them to get into our bay.

Toothless and I weren't having that.

Shrieks of horror rose from the invaders as Toothless prepared to fire. They had only gotten to the first half of the traditional " _Night Fury, get down!_ " before my brother launched his flames into the lead ship.

The fireball exploded right where the bow met the waves. The insignia of the Bog Burglars seemed to glow in the firelight. With a hollow moan, the ship took on water. It swayed to the side and began to tip over another vessel, forcing it to swerve away from Berk to get out of the way.

I glanced behind us and shouted, " _Right!_ "

Toothless twisted around just before a spear launched right through him. With a snort, he took us up higher again, preparing to go into another stoop. As he did, one of Berk's catapults launched a fireball at the oncoming force—just barely missing some of our nestmates—and crashed right through the sails and deck of a Meathead ship. Below, Berk's warriors scrambled to bring our land catapults to the island's edge, preparing to rain explosives down onto the ships.

It wasn't enough. For every fireball we sent their way, they answered with three more. A burning hail was raining upon Berk, crushing everything in sight and fueling the blazing inferno eating away at our village. Many of our nestmates were struggling to protect Gobber's ships as the invasion pressed in.

Just in the periphery of my vision, a blue-white streak caught my eye. I turned just in time to see Dad skirting around the invasion, aiming for a gap in their forces that would take him to our bay, where he could defend it and keep the source safe.

Our nestmates whipped towards it. Fire seeped from their maws.

He was steering an enemy ship. They wouldn't waste a moment to check who was on it. They wouldn't _know_ to check who was on it.

" _NO!_ " I howled down at them.

Fire blazed upon Dad's vessel at the very same moment. Our nestmates cut their strike off short and snapped their heads up at me in shock, but the damage was already done.

The source _screamed_. It was so loud and shrill and pained that even hundreds of feet above it, it made the insides of my ears vibrate. I clamped my arms around Toothless' ears even as he lunged downwards.

An impossible blast of freezing air rammed into us, stealing my breath away. It whipped us back and forth, but because Toothless had already snapped his wings in, it didn't fill them up and fling us head-over-tail. The same couldn't be said for our nestmates, and startled cries came from all directions as they were flung astray. Even the ships shuddered under the strength of it, and I heard at least one collision between them.

We breached through the last of the smoke. I had a moment to glimpse the sinking, burning shrapnel of Dad's ship.

Fog exploded from the ocean.

Toothless and I flew right into it, both of us shivering at the sudden, numbing chill. The fog glowed red in the firelight, swarming my vision with the color of blood.

"DAD!" I cried, my heart nearly beating out of my chest. "DAD!"

Flaring his wings wide, Toothless pulled up and began batting frantically at the fog. A pocket formed over the ship's remains—just as the ocean swallowed it into its depths, frothing ravenously as it sucked it down.

The world around me grew as silent as death. Toothless stiffened beneath me, his breath hitching in his throat.

My tongue suddenly seemed heavier than metal, my mouth dry, my ears roaring with the frantic beating of my heart. "No…he's…" I swallowed. Cupping my hands around my mouth, I cried out, " _Dad!_ "

" _King!_ " Toothless roared, his voice high and tight with desperation.

The flames crackled around us.

" _No_ ," we gasped into the darkness.

It wasn't…he wasn't… _no._ There was no way. Dad would never just…just _leave_ like this, not when his people needed him.

Not when _I_ needed him.

" _Dive!_ " I cried frantically.

Toothless snarled a curse. He pulled his wings in. We lunged for the water.

"Hey! Why're you two wastin' time over here?!"

Toothless halted inches above the ocean, so fast that I nearly slid off of him. I snapped my head up, blinked, and felt my throat tighten.

There in the Color-Shifter's claws was my father—burnt, soaked, and spluttering, sporting an enormous wound over his shoulder…but _alive._

Toothless dropped his head and let out a huge breath. He murmured a thankful prayer.

"Dad," I choked, my voice hoarse with unshed tears of relief. "Oh, thank the Dragoness of the Moon, I thought—I thought—!"

"Enough about me!" Dad wheezed. He coughed, and in between huge, hacking episodes, he managed to get out, "The source—I tried to shield it, but it slipped away—it's still down there!"

" _What?!_ " Eret nearly wailed. He pointed down at the frothing whirlpool that _used_ to be our ship. The Deep-Swimmer poked her head out of the water with a puzzled expression, her chain limp as it floated around her neck. "You mean we went through all that trouble for _nothing?_ "

"We'll find it!" I said. "But we have to—"

In the crimson fog, a form shifted. There was the sound of an enormous impact, men and women crying out in shock, wood rending against metal.

A dull groan rumbled around us, just barely within hearing range. The mast and sail of one of Berk's ships faded into view just a winglength away from us. The ship crashed on its side with an enormous boom, its entire side completely shredded from getting rammed. The shadows of our nestmates darted past towards Berk, many of them carrying a villager in their claws.

"They've gotten through!" Dad seethed. "Quick, take us up above—we've still got a chance if we can keep them from climbing up the docks!"

Eret had gone white. "Gods, the things I do for you people," he groused. He leered at Toothless and me, pointed, and clarified, "You two are going to have one _hell_ of a debt to pay when we're through with this! The second we're done with this, we're looking for my men one last time!"

"Okay!" I said, still riding my "Dad's not dead" high. "Let's just _make_ it through this first!"

Toothless barked a command at the Color-Shifter. He nodded and melted away, carrying my father back towards Berk—and hopefully, to safety.

As one, Toothless and I craned our necks downwards and called, " _SOURCE!_ "

The viscous, inky waters did not respond. They were as black as the night sky, and the glimmering of firelight on their surfaces almost perfectly mirrored stars. It made me sway with a feeling of _wrong_ , like we were flying upside-down. The bloodied fog curled in around us, muffling the explosions and snarling and shouting.

" _SOULFIRE!_ " I shouted, my voice quivering just the slightest. " _SOULFIRE!_ "

We couldn't lose it—not here, not now, not when we needed it on our side the most! It had taken the combined efforts of Drago's armada _and_ the young King to get it in the first place. If we let it slink away now, hiding back in the ocean's depths, we may never find it again. It would continue its life as the broken, hollow thing it was now, inflicted torment on itself and everything it touched, lost in its own suffering.

We could help. I _knew_ we could. I knew it just as much as _I_ was being helped, just as much as _I_ had begun to climb that steep mountain towards healing—and we had failed it, letting it get lost in the chaos of a battle that no doubt terrified it.

" _SOULFIRE!_ " I tried again.

Ripples went through water—and Toothless sprung away just as a Viking ship barreled past, its Berserker sails missing us by a few inches. I glanced down at the passengers with wide eyes, and they looked up with equal shock.

" _KILL THEM!_ " someone commanded. Toothless whirled us away as they peppered the air with arrows.

" _What now?!_ " Toothless growled. " _What can we do, if we can't find the source?_ " He angled himself up high, struggling to lift out of fog for a clear view, but it just kept going higher and higher. Burning red and orange soaked into the fog like ink creeping through water, and the muffled sounds made it even harder to get our bearings.

We were lost in our own skies, and the thought made me shiver and growl. Nestmates occasionally darted past us, and each one that saw us was quick to fall behind us and follow.

"They broke through," I gasped. "It was only a matter of time. We gotta keep them from swarming Berk, or nothing will be left by morning."

The bell of Town Hall was still hammering. It seemed almost to be beckoning us, crying out to us for our help…just as the source had, moments ago. Toothless centered on it the exact moment I did, and he roared a leading call and took us towards it.

We flew through the miasma. The cliffs of our docks sprung into view. Just below, the blurred forms of the invading ships loomed.

" _Destroy the path!_ " I cried, throwing as much of a confident overtone into my voice as I could fake.

" _Understood!_ " our nestmates returned.

For a brief moment, Toothless shot me a surprised look. The spark flashed between us— _they understood you!_ —and faded.

Many of our nestmates had spent most of their days lingering around the docks, hoping to snag a spare fish or two. Even with the fog obscuring everything and blurring the world around us, they knew exactly where the wooden path leading up to Berk was.

Without hesitation, they set it up in flames. It would cripple Berk, forcing us to rebuild our only means to get to our ships—but it would alsomean that there would still _be_ a Berk. After everything, the bar was pretty low: survive, and deal with the aftermath later.

An inferno ripped the docks apart. Toothless took us backwards and ordered, " _RETREAT!_ "

Our nestmates fled above, back over the cliffside where our home burned away. Toothless bared all of his teeth in a charming grin and sucked in as much air as he could, his fire hissing in his throat. I clamped on tighter and ducked my head, bracing myself.

The last, flustered nestmate shot past. Toothless unleashed his fire, so bright and hot that it burned to look at and sent scorching-hot wind stinging at my skin. The force of it alone was enough to knock him backwards.

Three times he sent superheated fireblasts into the cliffsides. Three impacts. Three enormous booms that I could feel deep in my bones.

The cliffs gave way, crumbling like wet sand under a heavy foot. The stone seemed to liquefy, inching downwards at a deceptively slow pace and then suddenly pouring down into the bay. Startled and horrified screams rose from the invading force. The ocean lifted up in an enormous wave that sent flecks of water reaching up to our bellies, knocking ships back and forth and into each other like a small tsunami.

With a satisfied snort, Toothless flared his wings and took us up, back towards the false sunrise that could only be one thing: Berk, alive with flames. Smoke mingled with fog, obscuring our vision to almost nothing.

We swept over the cliffsides, but there was nobody in sight. Besides the crackling of the fires, the only signs of Vikings were the empty, unattended catapults. My heart dropped. They had been defending our bay moments before—why had they abandoned their post?

" _It is fine_ ," I whispered.

" _It is fine_ ," Toothless murmured.

Toothless sucked in another breath and boomed out one last leading call, one meant for regrouping. I shot a nervous look below, unwilling to leave the bay even though I knew there was no way they could climb up to Berk now. At this rate, flying through the fog was just as dangerous as flying blind—we _needed_ to get everyone organized. We needed figure out what to do and who was hurt and how many we had left.

But we couldn't do that alone.

We flew towards the ringing—only for Town Hall to materialize right before us, forcing Toothless to flare his wings just to keep from crashing into it.

To see it still standing sent another feeble spark of hope through my heart. As a building made almost entirely of stone, it was one of the very few in Berk that was, more or less, fire-proof. It was _safe._

Toothless plopped to the ground in front of it. I leapt off of him, found the door, and threw myself against it to push it open. With a shrill squeal, the battered door flung aside.

Dozens of gleaming, petrified eyes turned towards us, the fires casting stark light into the darkness inside.

" _Hiccup?!_ " several villagers gasped, teary eyes filling with amazement and hope.

I coughed and stumbled in, Toothless panting at my side. Our nestmates landed behind us but lingered there, unwilling to go in when it was so cramped, even as fire rained around them and the world drifted in ethereal mists. Only a few remained inside: the ones that had bonded with a villager. Of those, Eret and the Color-Shifter were the first who caught my eye. They were standing alone, pressed up against the wall, shooting uncomfortable looks around them and leaning into each other. Astrid and the others were huddled together close to the door, all of them out of breath. Still, when she saw me, Astrid gave a weary thumbs-up.

"You made it," she rasped. "Thank Thor, I was getting worried."

I nodded, my eyes still lingering on the dragons besides her. Hookfang was nursing a wound on his leg. Barf and Belch and Meatlug were worrying over it, and Stormfly was watching with an uncharacteristically serious expression.

The door slammed shut behind us. We whipped around.

Dogsbreath was panting and bloodied and burned, but that still didn't keep him from shooting me a look that would give Dad's disappointed scowl a run for its money. "Well," he panted. "It's _about_ damn time."

"Sorry," I rasped. I turned to face the rest of the huddled, wounded villagers—our _nestmates_ —and raised my voice. My voice seemed to reverberate in the tense stillness of our refuge, "I'm sorry."

Explosions boomed outside. It seemed that whatever ships had survived the landslide had gone right back to lobbing fireballs into Berk.

"I'm so sorry we were late."

Toothless ducked his head with drooping ears and side-frills, looking away to hide his own guilt.

"You're not late."

The crowd parted around my father, who looked like he was going to collapse with relief that we weren't dead. He closed the gap between us and rested a hand on our shoulders.

"Not when you can still help."

"And ya better be quick about it," Dogsbreath heaved. "We need you two more than anythin' now."

I turned my eyes back to the crowd. Our village looked so much smaller with everyone bundled close together, just like the dragons of the old King's nest had. Looking through them, I noticed something odd—or, really, I noticed the _lack_ of something.

"Where…" I swallowed. "Where are all the kids?"

Just like the old King's nest, only weary and battle-worn adults remained. It sent my heart kicking twice its speed.

Dogsbreath grunted. "Ah. That's Noodles for ya."

I reared my head. "Noodles…?"

"I told 'em ta get my children and take 'em somewhere safe," Dogsbreath said. "When he came back, I had 'em do it fer the rest of 'em, too." He cast a stony look towards the door, as if he could see past through it to the wreckage of Berk. "Damn thing shoulda been back by now. Where is he…?"

"Rye went with him, too," Bergthora spoke up, creeping out of the crowd. "And a few others. I'm sure they're…just waiting for it to be safe to come out 'a hiding."

"If Noodles is with some of our nestmates, then…" I glanced at Toothless, who looked just as forlorn as me. "I'm sure they just…overcompensated. They're safe. They have to be."

Dogsbreath didn't look convinced. "Thor, I hope so."

Toothless and I shared a look and turned back to the people of Berk. Many of them were eyeing us like we were ghosts, like the couldn't believe that we had actually come back. Most of them just looked scared. There was the faintest glimmer of hope in their eyes—the very same we had seen in the old King's nestmates, just before everything had fallen apart.

But even now, during all the chaos, Berk had managed to fight back, even if only by protecting our young. They had done it _together_ , dragons and humans alike. We were a lot like the old King's nest...but we were also a lot different, in a way that mattered most.

My expression hardened. So did Toothless'. Our eyes met, and the spark burst to life between us.

Both of us were terrified. We were exhausted. We didn't know how we could possibly do something, two lone souls fighting an army. But we were their Kings. We were their Saviors. We had to put an end to this _now_ , or the fighting would never stop. War would descend anew between human and dragon, and with the source loose—or worse, in Drago's hands—there would never be an end to the suffering.

We _couldn't_ fail again.

We had no choice.

 **o.O.o**

Berk was, well and truly, under siege.

With the sky filled with a thunderstorm of fire, Dad made the call to wait it out. Town Hall would not fall, and the longer our enemies shot into dead air, the less ammo they would have to spare when they really needed it. It was _torture_ , standing there listening to them tear _our territory_ apart.

But the toll of the sneak attack was terrible. I quickly learned not to ask someone where their husband was, or their friend, or, in the case of our dragon nestmates, their mate.

We couldn't lose anyone more, or the weight of loss would be too much. Over and over, with a solemn, unusual gentleness, Dad repeated to us and everyone else that we must wait.

"We bide our time. Recover our strength and wits," he instructed us all. His voice turned eerily cold, quivering with rage, "And then, we unleash all hell upon them."

It was impossible to tell how long the rainfall of flames lasted. So we sat there, our breaths caught in our throats, as explosions echoed around us.

Eventually, silence descended.

Town Hall had survived the assault, but the same couldn't be said for the rest of Berk. All efforts to rebuild after the first raids had gone to waste, and now the whole village was even worse off. Most buildings were flattened, half-crushed, on fire, or a lovely combination of the three.

A horrible silence swooped upon us as the whole village inched open the doors of Town Hall and crept out into our ruined home. The fog had let up just enough so that we could really appreciate the damage. Dragons and humans stood shoulder-to-shoulder, creeping wearily around the destruction. The wounded of both species were supported by the other, and a few dragons even tried to spread their wings overhead to block the intense heat. A tally of who was missing had been made, and search parties broke off into the smoldering inferno in hopes that they could find them.

Glancing out at sea proved what we already knew: the dozens of ships had spread out in a wide semi-circle facing the island, appearing only as enormous shapes glowing in the mists. All of them held burning balls of light on their decks, catapults primed to fire. I had no clue why they had stopped, but it was clear that they had caught on to our plan to wait them out.

The warriors of Berk rushed to collect the catapults that remained and set them up on the cliffsides. We had just as few supplies left as the invading source—every shot counted now, and nobody wanted to waste one by flinging it at the ships and possibly missing. To make things even _easier_ , several of our nestmates approached Toothless and me and admitted that they had either run out of fire or were about to.

Combined with over half of our dragon nestmates being swept up in the song and a small portion protecting Berk's children out in the forest, it made our chances of making it through to sunrise pretty grim.

I had to tell myself, several times, that I was better than this—that I hadn't done this to my home—that I had survived through much worse than this. It brought some small comfort, but still the fear and memories made me nauseous and lightheaded.

My body shook, and I pressed close to Toothless and took deep breaths, batting the shadows away as they stalked hungrily around me. A sharp snap below—and a building collapsed. I jolted, forcing myself into the present.

Toothless still noticed. " _Are you okay?_ " he murmured, batting his wings against the smoke and using the fires as a thermal.

" _I…well, no_ ," I admitted. " _But we have to focus now._ "

" _I know it's hard_ ," Toothless said. His voice turned hard, and with a determined overtone, he growled, " _But we won't fail._ " He glanced over his shoulder. " _We're not alone._ "

Stormfly caught him looking and squawked a cheerful hello. Astrid was too busy leering out at the invasion to notice.

Everyone was here—including the Color-Shifter and Eret, mostly because the Color-Shifter wanted to stick close to dragons he actually knew. We were skirting around the island's edge, using the fog and smoke as our cover. Toothless clicked his tongue to signal our nestmates, tucked his wings in, and took us down some of the cliffs that lead to the ocean. He leveled out mere meters from the ocean's surface and began skimming over it, keeping the invasion far to our left.

Smoke and fog still drifted about, obscuring us for the most part. The sun had yet to rise, and the moon had sunken below the horizon. We were firmly in the darkest part of night, and it sure did feel like it.

We streaked above the ocean, everyone straining our eyes below, as silent as the readied ships floating in the bay. Very, _very_ occasionally, either Toothless and myself or Eret and the Color-Shifter would risk darting over the bay, keeping careful to keep out of sight. It was no use; the ocean was almost completely coated in burning wood and floating stones, giving the illusion that it was actually land.

Our nestmates stuck to searching just away from the invading troops. It was horrible, watching them get so close to the dozens and _dozens_ of ships, knowing that all it would take was one person spotting them to send a volley of fire and nets at everyone. Every single dragon that was with us was already tired from the countless battles we had been in over the past few days. I was acutely aware of the soreness in my limbs, the pain streaking through my ribs and chest at every sudden intake of breath, the heaviness of my eyelids.

It was so, so tempting to try and launch a sneak attack. The only thing keeping me from jumping at it was the knowledge that many of our nestmates _would_ pay the ultimate price…and that it would well and truly be my fault.

I had already done enough screwing up over these past few days. Dad had told us to wait. I trusted him to know better than me, no matter how much part of me screamed to get these invaders away from _our_ island.

We zipped around for a few minutes before regrouping a little off from the bay. As expected, nobody saw anything.

There was a rippling of water. The Deep-Swimmer poked her head just barely above the surface and hissed. She wanted to know why we were sitting around, waiting for something to happen. _She_ wanted to attack.

Toothless grunted an explanation, along with asking for her help. She seemed a little uncertain until he coyly added some sort of "by the way, it'll weaken the shadow-nest" comment—and then fire lit in her eyes.

The Deep-Swimmer crowed that she would be the one to bring us success and splashed back underwater.

Toothless sighed, looked out at the black ocean one last time, and then turned his eyes to me. An unspoken question gleamed in his eyes.

" _Are you…sure…?_ " I said, shrinking close to him. _This_ was what I had feared and protested, but…

" _It might work_ ," Toothless whispered. " _It's what worked last time._ "

" _It's_ stupid _,_ " I said. " _And dangerous._ "

" _What, has that stopped you before?_ " Toothless said with a raised eyebrow. " _Hm, I don't remember. Where was I during this?_ "

" _Alright, alright_ ," Igroaned. I took in a deep breath, shook my head, and sighed, " _Okay._ Guys, we're moving on to our backup plan."

" _Finally!_ " Snotlout cried with delight. His voice was sharp in the silence, making pretty much everyone flinch away and shush him—dragons included. He grimaced. "What? You all were hoping for it, too…"

"Not really," Fishlegs groaned.

"Gods, why am I even _here?_ " Eret whispered to himself, clinging tight to the Color-Shifter. The Color-Shifter shot him a look and tried to "show off" how much calmer he was.

Toothless clucked another leading call, drew us out of our hover, and took us back out. We swept towards the midsection of Berk's bay, just over the flaming debris and mud that was left over after our last attack. Then, instead of staying just above the fires, hidden in the smoke, we drew straight up. Everyone stayed spaced far apart from each other, but just close enough to give help if needed.

Toothless roared a challenge, and everyone else joined in. There was an upstart on the multitudes of lead ships, the forms of warriors scrambling around as they suddenly realized that we had been here the whole time.

We braced ourselves. Snotlout and the twins cackled with anticipation. Fishlegs and Eret clutched to their companions with clear anxiety. Astrid leaned closer to Stormfly and gave her a firm pat on the side, eyes narrowed and jaw tense.

There was shouting on the ships. The catapults tilted towards us.

They did not fire.

"Oh, come _on!_ " Snotlout groaned.

The ocean between us and the ships bulged. White froth glimmered in the darkness.

The Deep-Swimmer lunged fully out of the water, launched herself over the lead ship, and spat a stream of boiling water onto the deck. The catapult snuffed out, sinking the ship into darkness. The pained screams of the men and women aboard seemed to come from ghosts.

She dove underwater—and then crested in a high arch near the second ship. Again, she blasted them with blazing-hot water and dipped back into the sea. The next time she burst from the waves, she was heading back towards us.

They didn't waste their ammo this time.

" _FIRE!_ " somebody screamed.

There was a solid crunch of metal and wood shifting under a heavy weight. The blazing stones arched high, gleaming in the starless sky, all of them looking like perfect spheres of fake soul-fire. I stared up at them and leaned down, clutching Toothless' scales as hard as I could, and counted the precious few seconds we had left.

The rainfall came down, and we jolted into action.

The world lit up into a cacophony of noise and light. Water splashed us from all directions, both icy-cold and searing-hot. We swerved back and forth, keeping ourselves just over the bay, trying to cover as much ground as possible. Toothless kept his eyes peeled below, waiting for an opportunity—I steered him by leaning this way and that, barking short commands to _Fly up!_ or _Go left!_ when it wouldn't be enough. Judging by the shouts of the others, they were trying to do that, too.

One load hit just a winglength off to our left, spraying us with debris and water.

There was a scream.

Toothless snapped his wings out and pulled us in a sharp turn, taking us in a circle around where it had come from.

" _SOURCE!_ " we both called.

More stones plunked into the ocean around us. The water roiled as if a heavy storm was bearing down upon it.

Deep in its depths, I saw a flash of light, a brilliant aurora…the source's eyes, trained on us, filled with terror and betrayal. It lurched forward.

My heart dropped. Toothless screeched a retreating call and took us above as fast as he could.

We weren't fast enough—not that we ever _could_ be. With a roar, the ocean exploded below us. A frigid updraft filled Toothless' wings and flung us astray. Fog swarmed past us, but not like before. This time, it was condensed, purposeful, almost heavy.

Toothless broke away as fast as he could and whipped around to face it.

Dwarfing the bay, its enormous form made of condensed fog that blurred into the night, the source's gaze burned into us. Its eyes were gone, hidden in the abyss it had wrapped itself in—but I could still feel it chilling my body, curling straight into my heart.

" _Source!_ " I called. Layering my voice with a soothing overtone, I tried, " _Please, hold on!_ "

It let out a screech full of pain and betrayal. Fireballs blasted straight through its fog, uselessly flinging through its formless mass. The source tilted its head to look behind us.

A small, keening wail crept from it, ringing straight to my heart. Toothless saw it, too, and he went rigid underneath me, snarling with real fear.

I followed their gazes and stiffened.

Just within sight, flickering like phantoms lingering at the world's edge, the shadows of Drago's armada loomed in the mists.

The men and women on the ships cheered. The source reared its massive body away.

I threw myself around Toothless' ears just as it bellowed out the song.

Toothless and I immediately began singing the counter-song. Shooting fleeting glances around us, I saw our nestmates flying erratically, their human companions clutching to them and trying to cover their ears. Everyone made a straight shot towards the cliffs of Berk, as far away from the source as possible.

I cast a glance over my shoulder at it, at the looming behemoth bleeding into its surroundings and wailing into the burning night.

I knew _one_ way it would listen.

" _Toothless_ ," I whispered. " _I need you to trust me._ "

He whipped his head up to me. His eyes filled with fear, but he didn't dare relent in the song—not with only one of us singing the counter-song now.

" _Fly us to Dad, okay?_ " I said.

Toothless whined beneath his counter-song, begging me to stop.

I closed my eyes, focused on the song…and began to sing it.

It fell around me in thick folds, swallowing the world from within and sweeping me into its depths.

Within seconds, I was nothing.

 **o.O.o**

 _You._

The source didn't waste any time, stalking around me in its formless shell. Its own fear blasted through me and became my own. Its own anger made me seethe. Its deep betrayal filled me with sorrow. It was almost impossible to tell what was me…where the line between me and the source ended, or blurred, even.

It's okay, I tried to project to it. It's okay.

The source screeched with indignant fury and jealousy. We had left it there. We had abandoned it, we had flown off and left it _alone_ and _scared_ , we had let it get _hurt_ and fall back into the crushing, freezing ocean. For what felt like a lifetime, it had darted back and forth beneath the waves, terrified and confused, desperately looking for us in the chaos. And then, when it had heard our voices above the ocean, it had come to us, filled with relief that we had seeked it out, that we had _cared._

Then, moments later, the ocean had filled with impossible fire, and it had been _crushed_ beneath falling stone _._ We had tricked it. We had tried to trap it again.

I'm sorry! I shouted into the torrent. We didn't trick you! We've been trying to find you!

The outraged whorl suddenly came to a stop.

I felt its furious, sorrowful stare on me.

 _You only want to use me_ , it choked.

No—

 _You want to use me, just like Them…just like her…I'm nothing,_ nothing!

No! We want to _help_ you—

 _You only want me for your own goals, and then you shall discard of me!_ It wailed. _I am nothing but a tool to you, a prize to get victory! You'll never free me from this suffering! You don't care! You won't listen, nobody will!_

My own anger flashed between us, sending it into a flurry.

How _can_ they listen? I demanded of it. When you trap them _here?_ When you take away all they are and leave them as empty as you think you are?

The source seethed, filling my thoughts with angry sparks. It took me several seconds to remember myself.

I get it, I tried to soothe it. I felt my own empathy for it bloom into the space, calming it some. I understand, because for so long, _I_ have felt like this, too.

The source scoffed. Memories of me zipped between us—of me leading our nestmates, facing off against the men on Drago's armada, curling close to Toothless' comfort. Then its own past blasted through me:

Shadows. Numbing cold. Formlessness. Emptiness. Abandoned. Pain. Fear.

I know, I told it.

It writhed around me.

I know.

And I'm so sorry.

Anger melted into fear, jealousy…and, as guilty as it made me, hope.

 _Then_ help _me,_ it sobbed. _Please help_ _me. I only want to be_ me _again. To feel the warmth of the sun. To feel the comfort of another's touch. To not bring suffering to all whom I touch…to not be this empty…this formless...this…this_ monster!

You're not a monster, I said.

Sorrow wrenched through me, and it would have taken my breath away if I could feel it. Frustrated confusion quickly followed, making my thoughts scatter.

 _Why?_ The source wept. _Why are you so willing to forgive something like_ me?How _are you able to?_

Before I could respond, the source lurched. The shell enclosing us cracked, just a little bit, just enough for me to become distantly aware of the real world just outside of my perception.

 _Mh…mh…mh…_

I pushed Toothless' counter-song behind me, focusing completely on the source, struggling to will this reality to hold up for just a bit longer.

Because it's the only way to move on, I said. You can't change the past. You can't make these horrible things go away. Sometimes, when things change…it's for good.

Another memory between us: a small, pine-brown Shadow-Blender…a small, fog-composed creature that looked just like one, a tormenting reminder of what _wasn't_ anymore.

My own sorrow filled us both, and the source had enough composure to stay quiet, to feel the slightest tug of guilt. Some sort of memory flashed between us—only for it to wrench it away, filled with horrible grief and, of all things...shame?

Before I could even set my sights on it, it was only a distant idea, already something just barely within my awareness.

I shook it off and went on, But you _can_ work with it. You can move past it and keep it from defining you. From being happy.

I thought of Dad, and I could almost swear that I could hear his voice—and maybe I really _could_ , if Toothless had gotten us to him.

 _I can't_ , the source whimpered. _I can't, when all I am left is_ this. _When I can be whole again if I just have soulfire back._

How do you know? I pressed gently. What will you do with it?

 _I'll be_ me _again_ , it breathed. _I'll be whole._

But _how?_

 _Because I'll be_ me _again!_ it said desperately, growing agitated that I couldn't understand. _It was ripped away from me, leaving me as nothing!_

I tried to push aside my own pity and frustration and fear, filling the shell with gentle understanding.

Source…please listen to me. You're doing so well—you're even sharing your…memories?...with me. You're letting me talk to you when you didn't just a few days ago. I know it doesn't feel like it, but you _are_ doing better.

Sudden panic and desperation snapped through me like sharp talons. A flash of memory roiled past—the shadow-nest, in the present, sickeningly close to Berk. It could see it through the song dragons flying far above it—the song dragons it had called to us when we had asked. It could see it through the young King trailing behind the shadow-nest.

 _This is what is coming for us!_ it shrieked. _Please, give it back! Give it back before we both perish!_

We can't run from this, source, I told it. These shadows will never leave us if we do. We need to fight back.

My determination struck it. The implications of what I'd said became clear.

Because I couldn't—I _couldn't_ give this creature the power and fury of the gods, not when it was so lost, so unpredictable, so broken. We had hesitated even with the old King...with the source, it was out of the question.

It _wailed_ with hurt. I could almost feel what fragile trust I had built between us shatter, as the source realized once and for all that I would not hand it what it wanted.

I couldn't. I _couldn't_. No matter how much I _wanted_ to, if only to give it relief from this pain that I knew so, so very well.

Our shared terror and turmoil intermingled, amplifying, feeding into each other. I crept away, back towards Toothless' counter-song…

… _Hiccup!…_

…back towards Dad.

I'm sorry, I whispered, my heart heavy, my thoughts racing.

 _You lied! You lied!_ it cried.

 _Am I truly such a monster?!_

Its desperation was almost palpable. It needed to control. It was terrified, convinced that it would suffer if it did not wrench its own fate back into its claws.

I could barely keep my head straight amidst the chaos. I'm sorry, I repeated, backing away further and further, back towards the prickling warmth running through formless limbs, the echoed voices just within hearing.

I'll come back for you.

The cacophony came to a sudden halt. Burning anger came to a pin-point focus on me.

Then guilt.

… _I'm sorry_ , the source whispered.

It lunged at me.

I tried to turn and _run_ back towards my family, but the source had learned from last time. It cut me off, swirling around and around and around me. The onslaught of foreign emotion became worse, blending into me, blurring the line between us more and more.

No! I cried, but its panic was putting me on edge, its desperation was making me thrash against its tight hold. No! Source, you know this isn't—

Another flash of vision—the shadow-nest, just at the outskirts of the Viking siege, casting shadows upon the entire island and all its occupants.

Trapped—we were trapped!

Not again! Not again!

No! Stop!

It was going to happen again—we were going to be locked away into shadows—we would never be free of this pain, this emptiness!

There was only one way—!

No…

… _mh…mh…mh…_

I had to break free, I had to do something, I had to fight back!

 _Then help me! Please help me! I can put an end to this!_

I writhed, desperately trying to claw my way out, to flare wings I did not have and fly away, to spit fire to light the sheer _nothingness_ consuming me from the outside in. The source tightened its hold around me— _was_ it me?—and the shell grew heavier, constricting, squeezing the breath out of me.

…no…

What was...where were...who were…

...us?...me?

No! _Something_ growled into the dizzying cacophony.

A horrible feeling of invasion—stop it!—of searching— _I'm sorry!_ —memories, who's I couldn't tell, whirling past— _please_ stop!—memories, _there_ , of soulfire, there—

It jerked to a stop.

Hiccup. I was Hiccup. I was a Savior, a King, a brother, a son. Not a dragon, not a human. But I was _me._

The whiplash of suddenly becoming aware of myself again left me stunned. Shock from the source swept through me, followed by the burning sting of betrayal, of realization that it had been fooled and tempted this entire time, and all for nothing.

It's voice came out as a choked, betrayed whisper, _You…taught others…?_

… _mh…m…_

…

Toothless.

I couldn't hear Toothless anymore.

The realization sent me over the edge, plunging us into real, relentless horror. I screamed into the emptiness, bursting with desperation and fear and anger. It swelled through us, and I directed it at the source, letting it blaze through us. It wrenched away with a pained shriek.

… _mh…_

I threw myself towards him. Towards the faintest perception of warmth.

 _Why?!_ the source wailed.

 _Mh…mh…mh…_

 _I don't understand!_

 _MH…MH…MH…_

 _I just want to be_ free!

… _Hiccup!…_

I snapped my eyes open and sucked in a huge, heaving gasp. Bright light, sudden and unfamiliar, nearly blinded me. I was still being held down.

" _No!_ " I wheezed, my throat tight, writhing and flailing my limbs.

"Hiccup! It's okay, it's me— _Hiccup!_ "

I halted, panting, and blinked rapidly. The world swam into focus.

Dad and Toothless both stared at me with mixtures of relief and terror. Dad had a tight hold on my shoulders, holding me in place, and even Toothless had reached out to grasp my arm in his claws.

"W-what?!" I gasped, jerking my head around.

We were on Berk. Astrid, Snotlout, Eret, the twins, and Fishlegs were all crowded around us, their dragon companions poking their heads over them. A few stray villagers were lingering nearby, their skin pale and their eyes bugging out.

The source still drifted in the bay, towering over Berk. It paused for a moment.

It began to sing in that same odd, different way it had on our ship. It was the song it had used used to command the song dragons to come to it.

As if to confirm it, a dim part of me noted that the song wasn't pulling at my consciousness like it normally did, searching for any way to squirm in. Our nestmates were still humming the counter-song, but now…it almost seemed unnecessary.

The faintest streak of sunlight was starting to leech across the horizon, a sight that seemed almost unreal after our long night.

Blotting it almost completely from sight was Drago's armada.

"Oh…" I breathed.

"Are you alright?!" Dad said. "Why—why did it take so long?!"

" _Are you completely stupid?!_ " Toothless almost roared at me, his voice tight and shrill. " _I thought—I thought it wouldn't work again!_ "

I swallowed and turned back towards them. "I'm sorry," I rasped. "That…didn't go as planned."

" _What a surprise!_ " Toothless growled. " _The source doesn't understand, Hiccup!_ "

"What did you try to do?" Dad demanded. "What part of 'be careful' do you not understand, Hiccup?"

I sat upright. Dad still didn't let me go. "I…I tried to reason with it," I said, staring out at the still, unreal creature looming in the bay. "It almost worked, but…"

Then, ever so slowly, the source twisted its great head around to face the armada.

I grit my teeth and hung my head. "I'm sorry."

" _What?!_ " they both gasped.

"It knows," I said. "It knows that—"

It shrieked. Dad clutched Toothless and me both tight to his chest, trying to shield us from it.

A swarm of dragons burst through the bleak, starless sky, diving at high speeds. The song dragons we had "freed" had been flying far too high for me to see. Now, as they stooped towards the source, it dawned on me just how many there were. They began to circle around and around the source, the song now a dull roar with their combined voices. Just like the source, their singing had changed to be... _different._

"It knows we taught our nestmates soulfire," I rasped.

The odd song continued to drift through the air. Our nestmates growled, shaking their heads. Even with the source not focused on them, all of them sang the counter-song.

A familiar dragon flew past, darting just at the edge of the flock of song dragons—the elder Hum-Wing. Then the excitable young Flame-Skin. The spunky Two-Walker. One of Noodle's playmates. The beige Flame-Skin that had caught me when I'd fallen off a roof, the elder Two-Head that had once forced healing-leaves down my throat, the _fledglings..._

Dazzling light burst into the sky, like fake stars filling the empty void above. The sunlight seemed to grow dimmer in its brilliance.

Our trapped nestmates glowed like the auroras. The source sang louder, more frenzied, more excited.

They sent their soulfire upon it, and the night burst to life with godly light.


	29. Chapter 27

**Hello, everyone!**

 **IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENTS! Okay, got your attention. The next update will not be in two weeks, but one week! Also, check out Unheard Whispers for an ES spinoff, "The Adventures of Noodles the Babysitter"!**

 **I also want to thank give an extra special thank you to everyone. A lot of you reached out and checked up on me and/or left incredibly supportive reviews, and I really, really appreciate that. Ironically enough, it's hard for me to express how much that means to me...but still, thank you all so much. You're all the best.**

 **I also want to thank Tista2018, CrisDLZ, Flopy, TheFuriousNightFury, NightShadow9558, Surprise Crayfish, ObiBen213, Eisnap33, FyrandTheGryffinclaw, Varghul, Samateus-Taal, It's Like I'm Not Even There, Laluzi, JustANormalHTTYDFan, Viperclaw14, TheWhisperingWarrior, Crysist, and all anonymous guests for all of their awesome reviews! Also, a special thanks to my beta Crysist for smashing through this in like two hours with me! I apologize for not responding to the reviews in time—I promise that I will once I get time!**

 **Without further ado, I hope you enjoy this beginning of ends, and have a wonderful day!**

* * *

 **Chapter 27**

Toothless

Streams of soulfire flowed like water across the source's form, streaking through it like dazzling auroras. Like the flow of tides and wind, the godly fire spiraled towards the growing sphere of light centered at its forehead. It swelled with vivid light, gleaming like a star in the night.

Our nestmates—myself included—all halted in our counter-song and gasped with horror. The humans of Berk and even those upon the floating-trees fell silent in terrified awe.

More and more of the source's captives were beginning to glow with soulfire. More and more were being forced to bring it forth.

More and more were being led to a quick death.

I knew it intuitively, instinctively, without having even realized it. To use the godly magic in such a way, for such a _godless_ creature, defied the very nature of soulfire. Soulfire brimmed with the very being of its user…and the source was forcing empty vessels to bring it forth. They had become nothing but containers fulfilling a mindless task, and there was no doubt in my mind that it was dooming them in doing so.

Hiccup was already on my shoulders, having shaken off the recoil of breaking free of the song. I growled, and he echoed it.

Those were our nestmates up there. The King's nestmates.

I was sick and tired of not being able to help them.

"Our nestmates!" I roared, standing tall and flaring my wings. "We must break them free! Force them away from it, back down here, and never stop singing the counter-song! Hold them down if need be! Have our human nestmates help!"

" _Understood!_ " our nestmates shrieked with equal parts outrage and fear. They flung themselves forth, crying out the counter-song for all they were worth as they raced towards the growing sphere of soulfire lighting the heavens.

A stone sunk into my stomach at seeing them flying towards the enormous flock of song dragons. If they sang the counter-song at its edges, they could be safe—but it was simply impossible to think that our nestmates could free that many dragons.

Not alone.

I glanced up at Hiccup, and he met my stare. The spark flashed between us.

Without even speaking, we'd both come up with the same idea. I cracked a smile, and Hiccup returned it—only for the connection to suddenly cut off as a human paw grabbed him and forced his attention away.

"Hiccup," the King gasped. His skin was pale, his eyes gleaming with real fear.

"I know," Hiccup said. He took the King's paws in his own. "It won't be like last time, alright?"

The King wrenched Hiccup close to him, drawing a shocked gasp from my brother. "Thor be damned if it is."

Hiccup had stiffened for just the slightest moment, fear turning his fingers to claws—and then he relaxed, returning the embrace. The King released him and turned to me, placing a paw on my forehead.

"Keep each other safe," he commanded us. His eyes settled on mine. "I know you can."

 _Where were you?!_ he roared at me in my memories, from that horrible morning the two of us stood on these very cliffs, gazing out to sea, our family ripped apart.

"We will," I growled, nodding deliberately.

The King nodded, even as fear-scent drifted off of him and reluctance made his determined expression waver. "Is there anything we can do to stop it?"

"Keep the dragons that are still free out of its control," Hiccup said. He lifted up higher and faced our human nestmates, "Even just holding onto them can help snap them out of it. Get them down here if you can—just _don't_ hurt them!"

The humans cried out in understanding and scrambled, all of them searching for nets or contraptions that they could use to throw nets. I saw one wielding the very same _thing_ that Hiccup had used to shoot me down a lifetime ago, and couldn't help a worried glance at my tail.

"And what about us?!"

Astrid broke off from the crowd, a wide-eyed Stormfly at her heels. The others joined her, human and dragon nestmates alike. She crossed her paws across her chest. "What, think you're gonna ditch us?"

" _Help our nestmates up there_ ," I said, nodding up towards the source.

"Right," Hiccup said. "You guys know how to break dragons free—we need as much of them away from the source as possible."

Astrid nodded. She put her paw on Stormfly's shoulder, and Stormfly stooped to allow her to climb on. "We'll keep close to you," she said.

"As will we," 'Eret' mumbled to himself, eyes locked on the shadow-nest. The Color-Shifter was much the same, standing crouched and ready like he expected the shadow-nest to lunge for him.

"Alright!" Snotlout whooped, already resting on a very nervous Hookfang's head. "Time for some _action!_ "

Hiccup and I exchanged a glance. We spared one final moment with the King and to our nestmates.

 _Dragoness of the Moon, let them stay safe._

We launched away from our home, back out over the ocean, back into this horrifying, new unknown.

We swept towards the source, curling higher and higher up into the sky. The drafts from the soulfire threatened to fill my wings and billow us backwards. With gritted teeth, I swung my tail to and fro as Hiccup shifted his weight from side to side. It was only with his help that I was able to skirt up the mountain of auroras, breaching through the remnants of smoke and fog drifting through the skies.

After what felt like hours ascending, we leveled out at the source's head, where the sphere of soulfire grew and grew at its forehead. The both of us sang the counter-song as loud as we could, and even with that, I had to shake my head every few seconds to clear it of fogginess. With a growl, I channeled what little magic I had left into my fire and spat a fireball directly at its center.

The magic-fueled fire exploded. Fog swirled about around it.

The soulfire remained undisturbed.

"Dragon of the Sun," I cursed, even though I had been expecting it. " _Source! Stop! You'll kill them all!_ "

The source tilted its head just slightly towards us. A chill raced down my spine. Hiccup tensed and shivered.

Its stare was almost palpable, a sudden and horrible feeling of being watched, of being sucked under the freezing ocean, of the very breath being ripped out of one's lungs.

"You," it hissed. "Liars…"

I bared my teeth. It wasn't going to listen to us, no matter what we said.

Hiccup cut his counter-song off and said, " _Can we reach it inside the soulfire?_ "

" _What about you?_ " I returned. " _You'll be hurt!_ "

Still pinning us with its stare, the source continued to sing. The soulfire just kept _coming._ As quickly as we had reacted, our nestmates must have run out of fire...right? Soulfire worked outside of shot limits, but surely it didn't grant its user infinite firepower?

My counter-song wavered. I glanced down at the song dragons, flicking my eyes back and forth and furrowing my brow. With growing horror, I watched as new stars sparked to life. New bursts of godly light. New dragons using soulfire.

The source was somehow spreading the knowledge of it.

I growled deep in my chest. "Fine!" I spat. "You want soulfire…I'll _give_ you soulfire."

Deep within me, something shifted. A sudden rush of energy prickled through my scales, both ice-cold and blazing-hot. My wings regained their strength and the soreness in my limbs receded. It was different from last time. It felt _right_ this time.

My scales shone blue all the way down my spine, reflecting brilliant light against Hiccup's body. He met my eyes and flattened himself against me.

The source had only just lurched away when I dove. I reached out with my claws, pounded into the shell of soulfire…and began to tear away at it. The source screeched with pain and fury, throwing its head and sending us sailing.

Hiccup stopped singing. " _Watch out!_ " he screeched.

I flipped upright. Sudden, burning heat lit at my tail.

I swerved away just before a beam of soulfire the size of a floating-tree blazed past. It curled up into the heavens before exploding into an array of auroras, shimmering like a heat mirage in the distance. The sky around it darkened even more so, and if one looked closely enough, it would appear as if that portion of the sky had simply vanished.

The source threw its head back and bellowed its commanding song again. Hiccup curled close to me, clenching his paws around my ears, and I leaned into him. More fires lit below, and the source's form began to glow even brighter.

I tucked my wings in, singing the counter-song as loud as I could. Skirting over the source, I threw my paws out and snatched some of the soulfire condensing at its forehead. The source bellowed, whipping around with horrifying speed.

I let the soulfire fizzle out in my claws, lost forever, and it _screamed_.

" _Why?!_ " the source raged. "Why do you despise me so?! All I wish is to be myself once more, to be free again!"

" _This isn't the way!_ " Hiccup shouted. " _Source, I know you don't want this! I know you don't want to be a monster!_ "

" _Liar!_ " the source wailed with heartbreak. "Stop it! Stop lying! I won't let you deceive me once more! I won't feed into your lies, your false compassion!"

I twisted round, dove, and managed to snag another breath of soulfire off the surface of the source, leeching it away in a brilliant aurora.

Streams of fog burst from the source's form. They gave chase, forcing us to twist and curl back and forth. Hiccup clamped tight to me with his paws, struggling just to hold on as he threw his weight from side to side, guiding me out of harm's way. We darted in stomach-lurching twists and turns until, finally, I'd had enough. With a growl, I shot straight up into the empty sky. I whipped back around to face the fog, flared my wings, and flapped for all I was worth. It was exhausting, but I managed to create a big enough gust that the streams dissipated. With a snort, I pulled my wings in and allowed us to drop several winglengths to regain our speed.

" _Source!_ " Hiccup called. " _We_ do _care. We care about you, and also everyone down there. Look at how you're hurting them!_ "

The source turned its chilling stare on us. "Stop it!" it cried. "You're a liar! A liar! You yourself have felt this suffering, and yet you withhold its cure from me! You would rather leave me to rot as _this!_ "

The soulfire flared along its form. A sudden, sharp blast of wind rushed into us.

It hit us like an invisible stampede—a solid, physical thing _forcing_ us away.

I screeched as my wings buckled in, sending us head-over-tail. Hiccup struggled to hold on and nearly slid right off from the sheer force of the spin.

When it was over, I flipped upright and snapped my wings out, breathless and reeling. Hiccup slumped against me, gasping for air.

"Welp, damage control's a no, then," he groaned.

The source had pushed us far, far away from it—so far that we were close to the shadow-nest, blown completely out of Berk's bay. I could still feel its freezing, pinpoint stare on us as it craned its enormous head to look at us. Even at our distance from it, I could still clearly hear its voice.

"You say I'm not a monster," it murmured.

I felt its stare vanish as it turned away, ducking its head as if ashamed.

"...how I wish that were true..."

It roared the song. Multicolored sparks lit up on the horizon, along the shadow-nest…and beneath the waves directly below us.

"Not good. Very, very not good!" Hiccup shouted. I pumped my wings, racing up into the sky as the water exploded right underneath us. A tusk rushed past us on our left and right. I pounded my wings, gritting my teeth when freezing water sprayed at my underbelly. I could feel his breath wafting over us, sickeningly close.

The young King missed ramming into us by mere winglengths, his ascent out of the ocean stopping meters away from my tail. He fell back into the water, sending a tidal wave into the shadow-nest and the invading floating-trees. Blank amber eyes locked on the source, and he boomed the song.

It was too much. I began to sway. The source was bad enough—the last thing we needed was a _King_ singing the song as loud as he could.

" _It is fine!_ " Hiccup gasped, clasping onto me and humming the counter-song. " _It is fine, Toothless!_ "

I picked up my own counter-song. The buzzing within my mind never quite faded—but with Hiccup here with me, I was able to shove it aside, if only enough to concentrate. Holding it at bay or not, though, we needed to stop him _now._

The young King's scales beamed with neon blue light, much like my own. He opened his mouth, sending a swath of steam billowing from his maw. Hiccup hissed with pain as it curled over us.

I lurched away as fast as I could and, in frantic desperation, spun around in a circle in desperate search for something that would help. There were still some dragons trapped on the shadow-nest, and as the young King began to glow with soulfire, so too did they speckle the darkness with prismatic stars.

The _freed_ dragons were another story. Glancing back towards the source, horror struck me at the sight that met me: more dragons joining the swirling song dragons...and the shadows of dragons, stark against the light, as they fell. Our freed nestmates were quick to catch some of them and carry them to safety, but some slipped past, landing on the floating-trees below. Still, more sparks added to the ranks of the song dragons; even with the counter-song, even with the source's commanding song being less potent, our nestmates were right next to it.

The song was too powerful with two beasts singing it. Without someone there to physically block it, flying out alone and scattered, our nestmates were slowly succumbing to it.

I shook my head, sending a wide-eyed look between the source and the young King below. " _New plan! We have to stop him!_ " I hissed.

" _Right_ ," Hiccup groaned. Then, with a sudden gasp, he lurched on my back—and for a horrible moment, I thought he was going to jump off. " _Look!_ " he said. He pointed out towards the horizon.

So brilliant was the source that it seemed to suck all the light around itself, making everything else seem unfathomably dark in comparison. It was easy to forget that, for the briefest moment, the sun had been rising just before the battle. Now the sun was inching up into the sky, a golden disk casting weak light into the darkness…

…and the moon was rising to meet it.

An odd sort of joy and apprehension filled my heart at the sight. "Please hurry," I whispered, before tucking my wings into a dive.

We swooped right in front of the young King, crying out the counter-song as loud as we could. His eyes might have flickered, his voice might have hitched—but he continued to amble forward, undeterred. With each puff of air he breathed, scalding steam blasted over us. I inched to the side, waited for him to pass close by, and let us drop directly onto his forehead. Hiccup slid off of me and planted his paws firmly against the scarred, sagging scales of the young King.

" _Soulfire!_ " both of us gasped between loud bouts of the counter-song. " _Soulfire!_ "

This time his song _did_ pause—for a moment. The young King was simply too _loud._ Just as his elder had used his enormous voice to protect his entire nest, the young King's call dominated over all else. Dread filled me at the prospect—that we could scream our scales off, and all for nothing—

Hiccup froze, snapping towards something behind me with wide eyes. The King jolted.

A hoarse roar ripped through the cacophony.

" _SUBMIT! SUBMIT! SUBMIT!_ "

I whipped around, my fire already blazing between my teeth. Hiccup put one paw on my shoulder, nearly climbed on, and hesitated with his other on the young King.

The monster had managed to leap the short gap between the shadow-nest and young King's tusk. He swung his claw-stick high over his head, advancing further up the young King's tusk—and straight towards us.

" _Soulfire_ ," Hiccup gasped, frozen between staying with the young King and leaping onto my shoulders.

The young King's eyes wavered between wild fear and blank obedience. We continued to sing the counter-song. The shadow-man advanced, still roaring at him—or was that command directed at us?

The shadow-man advanced too far for my liking, too close for comfort. I opened my wings and threw my shoulder at Hiccup, crouching low. For good measure, I added an urgent overtone to my counter-song.

" _Soulfire_ ," Hiccup said as if in a trance. He snapped out of his rigid stupor and, with one last glance at the young King, he leapt up to safety.

With Hiccup secured, I let my fire pool in my maw. The shadow-man broke into a sprint, his claw-stick raised high above as if to plunge deep into my soft spot, his eyes mad and glinting in the wavering sparks of soulfire.

The young King's scales stopped glowing. I let loose my flame and leapt up into the sky.

At that very moment, the young King lurched in place, reared backwards, and wailed, "ALWAYS-THERE! _HELP ME!_ "

I swerved just out of the way of a swinging tusk—and nearly threw my head back and _groaned._ Had the young King waited even a single moment, my shot would have struck true.

Now, the shadow-man ripped his claw-stick out of the young King's tusk, having thrown himself down and used it as leverage to hold on. The young King settled down and took several frantic step backwards, his swinging tail shooting just over the shadow-nest. His terrified eyes settled on his captor.

"Always-There," he sighed, drooping with relief. Averting his eyes, he pinned his crown back and lowered his head. "Please help…me scared…me bad…me sorry!"

To the young King's growing despair, the shadow-man didn't even look at him. He sneered victoriously up at us and bellowed, "Well, it looks like you can cure them after all!" He narrowed his eyes. "Which means you _can_ get _that_ under control." He gestured behind him, towards the source.

I snarled. Hiccup tightened his claws on my shoulder and took a deep breath.

" _YOU!_ " he shouted below. The young King glanced back up at us, his eyes gleaming with the growing soulfire. Hiccup rose taller on my back and flared his wings, making himself all the more bigger and noticeable. Raising his voice, he layered his words not with a commanding overtone—but with one full of compassion. " _WE ARE YOUR FRIENDS!_ " he roared. " _Please, listen to us!_ "

The young King's jaw parted with shock and confusion. He turned towards us, his full attention locked on us.

The confident grin faded from the monster's lips.

" _Us friends!_ " Hiccup shouted. " _Us help you!_ _You are good!_ "

Now the young King's eyes were filled with disbelief. "Me…good?" He turned to his captor, flicked his eyes down, and then risked meeting his eye. His voice filled with naïve hope, "Always-There, me good?" He returned his eyes to us and took a step closer, carrying the monster closer towards us. "Me _good?_ "

The shadow-man's expression filled with rage.

He raised his claw-stick, stepped to the base of the young King's tusk, and howled, " _SUBMIT! SUBMIT! SUBMIT!_ "

The claw-stick struck scales this time, burrowing deep into the young King's scarred and battle-worn hide.

" _No!_ " Hiccup and I snarled. We dove.

The shadow-man had only just yanked his damned weapon out and looked up when I rushed over him and snapped a paw out, flinging him off of the poor young dragon. He went sailing backwards, back onto the shadow-nest, and I gave chase. We pounded into the wood at the same time. I flared my wings, whipped my tail, and _screeched_ a battle cry.

Hiccup rose upright and flared his wings. "We are not yours!" he commanded him, his voice raw with exhaustion and determination alike. "Don't you see? You will never control us! You will never control _him!_ " Baring his teeth, he rasped, " _Never again!_ "

"No!" the young King whimpered. "No hurt Always-There!"

The shadow-man sneered and lurched to his feet. His eyes flicked behind us, and a twisted grin made its way up his maw, casting grotesque shadows across his face in the ever-building soulfire.

The source, lost in its own suffering, continued to roar its commanding song. It nearly drowned out the monster's next words.

"Is that so?" he rumbled. He thrust his claw-stick towards us and screamed, " _FIGHT!_ "

The two of us swiveled towards the young King. He lifted himself higher out of the water.

Wide, young amber eyes fixated on us, back to the shadow-man, and returned to us again. "No hurt," he begged.

"No hurt _you_ ," I said, separating the words as distinctly as I could. I stared pointedly at the scales just besides his tusk, which still gleamed with blood in the strengthening soulfire.

" _Us help you!_ " Hiccup said, layering his voice again with compassion. " _Us friends!_ "

"…friend?" the young King breathed. He dragged his gaze back towards the monster. "Always-There…"

For the first time, the shadow-man didn't seem so in-control. He flared his horrible cloak, thrust his claw-stick at us, and commanded with outraged bloodlust, " _FIGHT!_ "

The young King whimpered, drawing away. His eyes, begging for guidance, settled on us again.

" _You good_ ," Hiccup tried to soothe him. " _I know you are._ "

"…me…good…?"

Sudden, rapid footsteps pounded towards us. The young King flinched away, hiding behind a paw.

" _SUBMIT!_ " the monster roared, swinging his claw-stick above him, making him seem to tower high above. " _SUBMIT! SUBMIT!_ "

Hiccup pressed close to me, claws digging into my scales. " _No,_ " he growled.

" _No!_ " I said.

The claw-stick swung towards us. I ducked out of the way, and as I did, Hiccup rose onto my shoulders and snapped his paws out.

He clasped the claw-stick in his paws, his face inches from the shadow-man's. The monster wrenched his paw back—and I reared and snapped my front paws out, shoving him back. For the second time, he was thrown backwards and away.

Hiccup lowered himself down again. He stared at the prize clasped in his paws.

He turned towards the edge of the shadow-nest, and the young King shrunk away, eyes huge and terrified as they swung between us and his fallen master.

" _Never again_ ," Hiccup whispered, holding the claw-stick out.

It slipped from his paws, rolled to the edge of the floating-tree, and plummeted into the ocean, where even the gods could not see it.

The young King watched it fall, his eyes huge and head lowered, and dragged his gaze up to us. "…you?"

Hiccup leaned hard to the side. I twisted, opened my wings, and launched into the sky. With a quick turn, I faced the young King—and the monster, who had fought his way to his feet.

I met the shadow-man's eyes and threw my head with a snort. As much as I _wanted_ to continue tossing him around like the carrion he was, we needed the young King's help. Swiveling towards the cowering young King, I let my snarl fade and soothed, " _Come on._ "

The young King flicked his eyes towards the monster that had filled his life with suffering—so much so that he scarcely knew it for what it was. That the very act of showing kindness was baffling to him.

"STAY!" the shadow-man bellowed with rage. He advanced at shocking speed towards the young King. " _SUBMIT! SUBMIT!_ "

" _No!_ " Hiccup and I said.

The young King inched away from his captor. "…no," he breathed. He looked down, down to where the claw-stick had met its end in the freezing waters. His eyes filled with wonder. "…no?"

I fluttered away from him, back around the shadow-nest…and the young King followed. The shadow-man watched, seething, his paws empty. With a sneer, he turned to his shadow-nest and roared, " _Restrain them!_ "

The shadow-nest was in uproar, the cowardly underlings upon it frozen with fear. Only some snapped to attention, but it was enough for weapons to be turned towards us.

With one final, calculating look, the monster retreated within his shadows, disappearing from sight.

" _FIRE!_ " a human cried, his voice tight with fear.

I flung us backwards, and the young King leapt playfully towards us. The flaming-rock that had been aimed for him sailed right over him, unbeknownst to him.

"No! No!" the young King gasped with delight. More humans prepared weapons—and the sound caught his attention. He turned to the floating-tree that drifted closest to him, _slowly_ inched a paw up, hesitated….

...and then, with a gleeful smile, he swatted it aside like it was a stone he was playing with. It smashed into the shadow-nest, sending a wave of collisions through it. The humans aboard screamed, and some even fled the moment they could get their feet beneath them, sprinting across the connections between floating-trees.

"No! No!" the young King sang.

" _Good!_ " Hiccup shouted. " _Now—_ "

"Me good! Me good!" the young King said joyfully. He swatted at the floating-trees again, just because he could. A stone pillar caught his sight, and he swept his tail through it and smashed it, laughing joyfully all the while.

Hiccup cringed. " _Um._ _Okay! Hello! You—yes, you!_ "

"No!" the young King chirped.

" _Yes!_ " I said. " _Now, listen!_ "

He didn't, but he _did_ follow us as we made our way back towards the source, beaming with pride. The fact that a giant, glowing fog monster was looming just within reach seemed to be an afterthought to him. He followed after us with the bouncy energy of a yearling, trusting eyes settled on us.

" _Do this!_ " I shouted, and began to sing the counter-song.

The young King listened for a few seconds, puffed up his chest, and bellowed it for all he was worth. I cringed, and Hiccup wrapped his paws around my ears. Yet despite the pain, relief washed over me.

 _The counter-song is no cure_ , the old King had once told us. _But I believe it is enough of a deterrent to keep the song away from my nestmates…_

The source abruptly stopped singing, turning towards the young King. The soulfire swirled and swirled within it, making it seem almost solid. The majority of it condensed at a shell-shaped sphere just at its forehead, where I knew its "true" form was tucked away.

 _...simply because my voice is extraordinarily loud for a dragon._

The "nest" of song dragons was enormous, their voices cacophonous when joined together. But their volume was not nearly that of a dragon as enormous as the young King.

In mere seconds, the song filling the air was replaced by our counter-song.

The song dragons stopped spewing soulfire. They began to flutter, swerving away from the young King—who was standing close enough to the source that they began to flee their captor. Our remaining nestmates latched onto those that they could, dragging them back to Berk, back to safety. Still, I could see that more had fallen to the floating-nests below, and that some were even being dragged out of the water by some Vikings. Rage and horror burst through me with the realization that I couldn't tell if they were alive.

Yet despite it all, within seconds, the tides had shifted. The source had been too distracted to intervene our rescue of the young King, and now it was left exposed. It twisted its massive head around, searching for its victims, and then let out a screech.

I tucked my wings in, dropped onto the young King's tusk, and braced myself against him.

Movement caught my sight. I whipped backwards just in time to see humans— _several_ humans—leaping from the shadow-nest atop the young King's back.

"Why you—!" I snarled, twisting towards them.

"Alright, let's get a move on!" Came the giddy voice of...of _'Eret'?_

"Is he our friend now?!" Crowed…Stormfly...?

Of _course_ Stormfly was here. Why not?

Not a moment later, a blast of freezing wind ripped through the air. The song dragons were flown astray, swirling head-over-tail in the wild winds. Many landed directly on Berk, and many more fell all the way down towards the dozens of Viking floating-trees, joining the ranks of their fallen. There they stayed, clambering onto the closet solid ground they could find—whether it be Berk's cliffs or a floating-tree.

The source stretched its jaw open, nearly filling the whole sky. The soulfire began to condense within...and aimed directly at us and Berk. Horrified screams came from all directions, both from dragons and humans.

The young King boomed his counter-song even louder, his voice turning shrill with fear.

The brilliance of soulfire consumed my vision—all but for one thing. Just above, barely perceptible, the sun and moon inched closer together. The soulfire was so bright that it drowned their light out, making it seem as though it were still night. Their edges just barely touched.

The source snapped its head towards them.

" _No—_ " I gasped.

Its entire form surged in a blinding burst of light. The auroras that made up its body spewed up into the sky like a waterfall, raking across it like a thousand white-hot talons.

Soulfire was the fire and magic of the gods.

It pierced the heavens, filling my vision with white.

 **o.O.o**

Astrid

The song dragons were cacophonous.

All of Stormfly's time playing tag with Hookfang really paid off. She darted in and out of the very edges of the flock, shooting after those that strayed too far with surprising ease. Wrangling the song dragons away was no easy task, though; we all quickly learned that it would take at least two or three dragons just to break one away and force it down.

Then _holding_ it down was a problem—Berk only had so many nets to spare, and I noticed with a mixture of happiness and exasperation that some villagers were actually _hesitating_ to throw their bolas at our dragons.

The heat was intense, leaving my skin with a sunburn in the middle of the night. It was so bright that, at times, I had to cover my eyes or risk filling my vision with hundreds of luminescent spots.

Around and around we swirled, picking off song dragon after song dragon. Stormfly sang the entire time, never letting up except to pant for breath.

"Astrid!" Fishlegs cried from somewhere above us. Meatlug and two other dragons chased a song dragon around, only for it to slip away and sink back into the mass of them. "This isn't working!"

"Well, it's gonna have to!" I shouted. "Hiccup and Toothless are counting on us to—"

A screech from above—and a rush of wind slammed into us. Stormfly and I screamed as we tumbled through the sky. I tightened my grip to a death-hold, straining to hang onto the flimsy rope as everything turned into a confusing blur.

We settled out far over Berk. Stormfly cried out, and within moments, everyone's dragons responded, regrouping back towards us. A sigh of relief left me at seeing that everyone had someone managed to hang on…all except for one.

"Where's Eret?" I demanded.

Not a second later, the ocean filled with vivid light and exploded into mist. The young Bewilderbeast breached clear out of the ocean, his scales glowing like the sun and eyes blank and glazed over.

Flitting just above him, barely noticeable against the bleak sky, I saw a flash of movement.

"Those _idiots_ ," I groaned. "C'mon, girl! We gotta give them backup!"

" _What?!_ " Ruffnut shouted from below. I glanced down, but the literal mountain of fire made it kind-of hard to see her or her brother.

"You guys keep helping!" I shouted. "C'mon, Stormfly!"

With a squawk, Stormfly broke away and zipped towards the armada.

Hookfang and Snotlout casually descended on our left, and the twins and Barf and Belch on our right. Stormfly seemed absolutely giddy, chirping cheerily at them.

"Yeah, I don't really know why you thought that'd work," Snotlout mused.

Buzzing came from above—Meatlug and Fishlegs. I hung my head and groaned.

"Fine," I ground out. "Let's just help out and…and…"

Shouting was coming from below on the armada. I squinted. It was on one of the central ships, and there were a bunch of men fighting…something. The strangest thing was, many of them seemed to be hitting an invisible wall—or, rather, they seemed to be getting _hit_ by an invisible wall.

"Don't tell me that's…"

Ruffnut dangled off of Barf's spines to get a better look, to the Zippleback's clear horror. "Eyup," she said. Belch quickly snatched her by her scruff and set her back to safety, which she completely ignored. "It's our attractive downer."

"Eugh," Tuffnut groaned. " _Tue-moi_."

"Those _idiots!_ " I groaned. "Of course they went on a solo mission!"

"Y'know…he's _really_ bad at this," Snotlout said.

"Oh, like _you're_ any better?" Fishlegs shot back.

"I am! Actually!" Snotlout said. He lunged forward. "Let's light 'em up, Hookie!"

Hookfang was looking at Meatlug. She rolled her eyes and nodded.

All of our dragons clutched their wings in and dove. The armada swept up towards us—and very quickly went up in our flames. Stormfly landed besides Eret, and I leapt off my back and unsheathed my axe. The three of us stood back-to-back, bracing ourselves against the army.

"Hey," I said.

"Fancy seein' you here," Eret said, slightly out of breath. A man with some sort of bear mask charged him, and he ducked aside, kneed him in the gut, and knocked him down. The man groaned on the ground for a second—and then suddenly lifted up into the air all on his own before being flung astray.

The colorful dragon winked into sight for just a moment and disappeared again. So that made _four_ of us standing back-to-back.

"Yeah, well—" A man charged me, only for Stormfly to snap her tail at him and send him flailing. "Oh, c'mon, Stormfly, I totally had that one."

She chirped at me—and then squeaked with alarm as I charged right under her and flung my axe at the underling that had almost got the jump on her. He parried my axe with his own and kicked at me, trying to trip me. I leapt to the side, spun, and aimed my axe right for the back of his knees. He stumbled away…just in time for Stormfly to snatch him up by his cloak and throw him aside.

"So you decided to just come over here all on your own? You against an entire armada?" I huffed. Another underling came at me. I ducked aside, and they were suddenly flung backwards. A small gust of wind whisking past was the only indication that the colorful dragon was even there.

"It's not _just_ me!" Eret said. He flapped his arm around. "C'mon, where are you?! Let's get above again! Up! Up!"

The colorful dragon materialized in front of him. Eret leapt gracelessly onto his back, and I could have sworn I saw the prim dragon roll its eyes before he opened his wings and took off. Before I could do anything, Stormfly snatched me up as well, throwing me onto her shoulder and launching above.

"Eret, this is ridiculous! Do you have _any_ idea where your men even are? Or if they're even _alive?_ " I asked, eyeing the King dragon. It was just…standing there. Hiccup and Toothless were nowhere in sight—were they above?

"No!" Eret groaned. "But I _have_ to try! I won't stop until I see proof of it!" He grit his teeth and ground out in something that was supposed to be confident but sounded more like a desperate prayer, "Words mean nothing!"

The colorful dragon suddenly took shape in front of us. His eyes locked below, and with a bellow, he burst back down towards the armada.

"Stormfly!" I gasped. She was already on it, speeding after the colorful dragon as fast as she could.

The colorful dragon landed and scrambled to one of the cages that still held some song dragons. The colorful dragon let out a wheezing, high-pitched whine, and began clawing and biting at the bars. Eret fell off almost instantly.

The captives stood rigid, their blank eyes all aimed towards the source. All of them gleamed with magic fire, and some even let it curl from their maws.

"Oh, hey!" Tuffnut shouted overhead. "It's the glum dragon!"

Now that he mentioned it, I _did_ recognize one of the dragons in the cage. It was the huge orange one that always…spent its time with the colorful one…

It nearly broke my heart to see the colorful one all but _crying_ , frantically snapping at the metal, raking his claws against it and pounding his shoulder into the bars. Eret slowly got to his feet—and the moment he was upright, the colorful dragon whipped towards him and screamed.

"Unlock it!" I shouted to Eret.

"Way ahead of you!" he yelped. He spun, snatched up a locking mechanism, and began cranking the lever. The cage began to open across its midline, splitting in half inch-by-inch like a giant snapping-trap. I leapt off of Stormfly and joined in. Stormfly tried to help, too, but couldn't get a grip on the lever, so she just kind-of stood there with her mouth open.

The entire time the cage was opening, the colorful dragon sprinted back and forth, his wings flailing and tail whipping. He let out a high-pitched keen, rearing up onto his hind legs and clasping the metal bars in his claws. The poor thing pulled down with all his might, trying to speed up the process to no avail.

The cage finally widened enough for the dragons to escape. The song dragons trapped within immediately opened their wings and took off. The colorful dragon launched himself after the orange one, knocking him to the ground and humming as loud as he could.

The four-winged dragon actually struggled—and being twice the size of the colorful one, it would be roughly two seconds before he broke away.

"Y'know, I still don't get that," Eret said. He sauntered over to the colorful dragon and said, "Need any help there, big fella?"

That earned him one nasty look. Eret shrugged and leapt for the four-wing dragon's neck, wrapping his arms around it and holding it down.

"Stormfly, c'mon!" I gasped, running forward myself. I leapt for the dragon's tailfins, holding them down as tight as I could, and Stormfly hopped up onto its stomach with the colorful dragon and sat down, looking very proud of herself even though she probably wasn't even half the orange dragon's weight.

The four-wing dragon squawked between deep rumbles. It shifted around…and then went still.

A moment of stillness—and it let out a shriek at the very same time that the Bewilderbeast roared.

"Well, shit!" Snotlout shouted above. "C'mon, guys, we gotta— _holy shit_ , hurry up, hurry up, hurry up—"

The bulking mountain of a dragon raced towards us with alarming speed, lifted a massive paw, and smacked a ship right at the armada's edge. A domino effect of collisions followed, and within seconds, I was knocked flat to the ground. The four-winged dragon slipped its tail out from under me.

The four-winged dragon spun in a panicked circle, eyes huge as it took in the horrible views around us. It settled on the colorful dragon, who pressed close to it with a purr. Then it narrowed an eye at Eret, who awkwardly waved.

"Uh, what's going on?" Fishlegs said. "What's that Bewilderbeast doing?!"

The answer was "attacking a stone pillar" for…some reason.

"I think that's our cue to leave," Eret moaned. As if in agreement, several men across the armada began to run for their lives, trying to put as much distance between themselves, the Bewilderbeast, and the source as they could.

"Then let's get a move on!" I said. "Where would they be, if they're not on deck?"

Eret whirled around, trying desperately to think as the Bewilderbeast tromped closer and closer. The men on the armada had all frozen, staring slackjawed as their former slave had itself a little rebellion party. Some actually tried to stop it, shooting explosives at it—but the Bewilderbeast was moving too fast and too unpredictably as it pranced about, making every shot fly right over it.

"Not on deck," Eret muttered. "Not below, never there…no, we just checked there, and…no, not there or…gods damn it, all that's left is—"

He stiffened. Then he turned to the colorful dragon and grasped his cheekbones in his hands. The dragon snorted with wide eyes and the four-winged dragon leaned down with a snarl, but still he didn't let go.

" _Please help me_ ," Eret begged. "This is the last time, I promise you."

He scrambled to the dragon's side and scurried onto his back, and for once, the colorful dragon didn't protest. His orange friend blinked at him in surprise, and the colorful dragon ducked his head and pretended not to look.

"There!" Eret said, pointing to some ships near the front of the armada. The colorful dragon took off. With a startled squawk, his friend followed. I leapt onto Stormfly, and she burst after them.

We were streaking alongside the Bewilderbeast now, and just ahead of it, I could make out the distinct form of a Night Fury. They were luring it back towards the source—but why?

There was no time to find out. Eret pointed out a ship full of closed snapping-traps, and at the very same moment, the Bewilderbeast _exploded_ with sound.

Stormfly was so disorientated that she nearly dropped right then and there. I cried out her name and pulled up on the rope, guiding her as best as I could. She plopped gracelessly onto the ship, where Eret was already cranking open a trap made of solid metal.

"What are you doing?" I shouted as loud as I could. I could still barely hear myself. The colorful dragon had flattened himself down and covered his ears with his paws, and the orange dragon stood protectively over him. Our friends hovered just nearby, although I could see that all of the dragons were struggling to fly straight.

"These are empty!" Eret cried. "I know it, because they're broken—they only open halfway! Look how dinged up they are!"

The trap suddenly halted halfway open. Eret leapt up onto the crank, poked his head in—

—and was punched square in the jaw. He fell backwards with a huge, " _Oof!_ "

A man only a few years older than us sprung out of the trap, saw all of us, and paled.

"C-Captain?"

There was clamoring inside, and several more men poked their heads out of the slim opening.

Eret groaned, rubbing his chin, and sat upright. "Why you— _this_ is the thanks I get for holding out for you?! I should just leave you ungrateful lot here for this kind of treatment!"

" _Captain!_ " all of them shouted with joy, rushing out of the trap as fast as they could. I backed up against Stormfly to give them some room as they all encircled him.

Eret beamed, laughing and checking each and every single one of them for injuries. He teared up, his eyes glistening in the aurora-fire, although he immediately tried to hide it by turning around and gesturing at the colorful dragon. In all the clamor, it was impossible to hear anything anyone was saying—but it was pretty easy to figure out.

Especially when Eret asked where some missing members of his team were, and all of them slumped, hanging their heads.

"I-I'm sorry, Captain," someone said.

Eret grabbed him by the shoulder and pulled him close, giving him several firm pats on the back. "Now, don't you go takin' responsibility, you hear me? That's _my_ job." He lifted his head. "And that means we're gettin' outta here, _right now._ "

"C-Captain?" his crewmate that had clocked him asked.

Eret pointed. "Time to put those legs to good work, lads!" He leapt up onto the colorful dragon and glanced at the four-winged dragon—which immediately took off into a hover, leering at him. "Yup, that's not happening. C'mon, lads, don't be shy! We'll catch you if you fall!"

He pointed right at the young Bewilderbeast, who was close enough that I could make out each and every scar that mottled his body.

I eased myself up onto Stormfly, who was busy sniffing at one of Eret's men. They looked between their commander, me, the Bewilderbeast, and the source.

The source chose that very moment to scream at the top of its lungs, sending a sharp migraine pounding against my ears.

The speed at which Eret's men leapt from the ships, out over a sheer drop, and _onto a Bewilderbeast_ spoke volumes of the horrors they had witnessed upon the armada of shadows. All of us hovered within the gap, prepared to catch any of them if they missed their mark.

When the last man had made it, Eret actually whooped, "Alright, let's get a move on!"

Stormfly let out a cheerful squawk, taking us up closer to the King dragon and right over a baffled Hiccup and Toothless. She took us closer to them—

An enormous blast of wind struck us, sending us spinning and spinning. Up and down blended together in a nauseating blur. Stormfly and I screamed, both of us struggling to snatch control back.

A hard impact made my head spin. My ears rang, drowning out the distant roar of the King. Spots swam across my vision as I fought sit up. My vision distorted and my head pounded.

"Is that…the sun?" I wheezed, staring in confusion up at the beaming light towering above.

My entire vision went white.

It _burned._ Whatever it was, it blazed across the very earth with roiling waves of heat, so much so that my skin began to sting and my eyes teared up. I was distantly aware of Stormfly shaking me off and then sudden relief as she threw herself on top of me, but it only helped so much. I squeezed my eyes shut and covered my head.

It suddenly cut off. Ice-cold replaced the fire, making my hair stand on end. My ears rang, and I shifted out from under Stormfly into…

...nothingness.

The fires spluttered out.

The ocean stopped shifting below.

The heavens disappeared, swallowed into the abyss.

In the damning emptiness, dragons began to wail.


	30. e luce

**A/N: Next chapter will be up this weekend...**

* * *

 **provehito in altum.**

* * *

 _the sun_

 _was gone_


	31. in umbram

**A/N: Next chapter will be up this weekend...**

* * *

 **sic itur ad astra.**

* * *

 _the moon_

 _was gone_


	32. Chapter 28

**Hello, everyone!**

 **I want to first apologize for not being able to respond to reviews...I've been incredibly busy this past week, so much so that I was worried I'd have to delay the update.**

 **But anyways, I want to give a special thanks to everyone who reviewed last chapter and the interlude, especially** **Blindhawk, SuperFan, Briar, Alexisminas, Surprise Crayfish, CrisDLZ, Samateus-Taal, NightShadow9558, Elt-1080, It's Like I'm Not Even There, FyrandTheGryffinclaw, sophie21th, Flopy, Viperclaw14, NomexGlove, TheWhisperingWarrior, JustANormalHTTYDFan, greenone15, Crysist, and all anonymous reviewers! I'd also like to thank my beta Crysist for going through this with me!**

 **I won't keep you any longer…without further ado, enjoy and have a wonderful day! Comments are always welcome!**

* * *

 **Chapter 28**

Hiccup

The shadows were overwhelming.

I shivered violently in the cold darkness. I couldn't feel anything—not the stinging wind, not the burning heat of the fires, not the lightweight rush of flying…not Toothless. My only reassurance that I hadn't actually died was the frantic, painful pounding of my heart. I grasped at my chest with fingers turned to claws, struggling to breathe. Memories flared in my mind's eye, filling me with thoughts of darkness, of being trapped, of waiting to die, of pain.

 _No! It's not real!_

The shadow of my mind cackled, like it was amusing that I thought that I had moved on from it—that things could magically get better and _stay_ better.

 _It's not real!_

Movement beneath me. It had to be him—it _had_ to be.

" _Toothless_ ," I croaked, a desperate prayer for him to be _here_. In the utter emptiness, my voice seemed to boom.

" _Hiccup_ ," he returned shakily, seeming so far away. I knew he was there—I knew I was on his back—but it was just _so cold_ and I couldn't feel _anything_ , couldn't _see_ anything.

More voices began to drift in the darkness like the lost cries of wayward spirits. They culminated into the terrified wails of our nestmates, of the young King right besides us, of the people on Berk, and of those on the invading ships and the armada. The song continued to drone even into this void.

As one, the choking sobs and hoarse screams rose in despaired and petrified confusion. Even as I listened to them, I could almost trick myself that they were manipulations of my mind, that they _weren't_ real, that the world really had turned dark and cold, empty and dead like the old King's nest.

A spark.

Soulfire billowed from the source's shell like a blossom unfurling in the sunlight. It swirled and spiraled at the egg-shaped sphere of light at its forehead. The soulfire itself flowed like water and broke off in random bursts, zipping to the horizon and out of sight as enormous auroras. It was different now—it was more powerful, _terrifyingly_ more powerful.

Because it wasn't stolen only from dragons anymore.

The shadows pressed down on me like a physical thing, a tight push against my chest making it impossible to breathe.

" _No_ ," I breathed, casting blinded eyes up to the heavens where I knew the Dragon of the Sun and Dragoness of the Moon no longer remained. " _No, no, no_ …"

" _Impossible_ ," Toothless rasped. " _They're not_ …"

But they were.

The very gods Themselves had tried to intervene...and now...now...

Gone. They were gone.

We were alone.

The Color-Shifter's voice broke through the stupor around us, high and tight as if he were fighting off tears. " _N-no...the...the Prebirth.._."

The cursed word left me breathless as the reality of our broken world bore down on me. Toothless' breath hitched. He shook beneath me as if the ground below was rocking wildly beneath his paws.

Pressing close to my brother, I could only stare, dumbstruck, as island-sized flares of soulfire whipped wildly into the destroyed sky, zipping past like lightning without the faintest sound. It was too bright to look at, but I couldn't tear my eyes away. It cast stark shadows across Berk, the ships, the armada, and the young King, painting the world in vivid blues and greens and abrupt, deep black. It was a horrible, unearthly sight.

Somehow, in the great nothingness, I found my voice. It came out weak and strained, thinned by the cold and fear. "We have to…"

All movement had ceased, like every living thing had turned to stone. The ocean was so completely still that it looked like a plate of smooth glass below. The skies weren't empty in the sense of the deep, sheer _black_ of long-forgotten caves, but of simple _nothingness_ , like the blind spot of the eye had encompassed all the heavens.

"…we have to do something."

Toothless took a shuddering, calming breath and rose to his feet. He opened his wings. The stiffness of his joints betrayed his fear.

" _It is fine_ ," he breathed.

" _It is fine_ ," I returned.

He pushed his head up, and I pressed my forehead to his. We held there, shivering both from cold and terror, for a precious heartbeat.

We rocketed towards the source.

Behind us, there were wingbeats.

A sharp, painful zing of adrenaline rushed through me. I whipped around, baring my teeth—

Stormfly flapped frantically at our tail, struggling to keep up, her eyes so wide they seemed to take up her entire face. Astrid, covered in burns, her hair blackened from the smoke, met my eyes and nodded.

I looked to our left—and there were Snotlout and Hookfang, the twins and Barf and Belch. On our right, Fishlegs and Meatlug…and Eret and the Color-Shifter. All of them looked to us pleadingly, hopefully—maybe not as their Saviors or even their Kings, but as companions.

We flew in total silence. I clenched my eyes shut, grasping at my chest as my heart tried to beat itself out. This was all my fault. I was going to screw up again, I was going to get us _killed_ again, and there would be nobody to blame but me, and Toothless and Dad would be left all alone—

 _Stop it_ , I told myself. I couldn't freeze now, locked up with self-doubt. Not even in this world of shadows.

I took in a long breath, and in a shaking voice, I told them what to do.

 **o.O.o**

We reached the invading force, where some of the song dragons lied helplessly upon the invasion's ships, breathless from their long journey. Even now, as spent as they were, they still gasped out the song. At their sides, many other song dragons lied still and silent. My heart sunk looking at them. I strained my eyes, begging the absent gods to see their chests rise and fall...but it was impossible to see.

Eret and the Color-Shifter broke off and hovered above their masses, well within sight. The Color-Shifter's scales reflected the soulfire like a beacon, making him gleam in the darkness.

"Do you want to survive?!" Eret shouted to the masses, his voice tearing through the panicked clamor. "Then you better listen to me!"

We passed over Berk. Twice, maybe three times as many song dragons stood in passive indifference, even as the people of Berk struggled to rouse them.

Astrid took charge, directed the others here and there. "Everybody listen!" she commanded, her voice hoarse yet firm. "Everyone grab onto a dragon, and I mean _everyone!_ "

Toothless and I hovered above the cliffs for just a moment—just long enough to find him.

As all of our nestmates scrambled, Dad surged through the crowd, making his way to the edge. Stormfly plopped down next to him, humming the counter-song, and Astrid turned to us.

Something in their eyes told me they thought that this would be the last we ever saw each other. I opened my mouth to say something, _anything_ —and found nothing. What _could_ you say?

"It's not over yet," I rasped, my confidence as empty and hollow as the world we had been plunged into.

Dad stepped to the edge of the cliff and stretched his hand towards me. Toothless took us in closer, giving me the space to reach out and grasp his hand within mine.

He started to say something and, just like me, couldn't seem to find the right words.

"I have hope in you two," Dad said. He let go and stepped back.

The soulfire flared behind us, blasting the landscape with burning drafts. With a final glance at me and then my father, Toothless spun around and charged. His scales flickered with godly magic beneath me, glowing like a beacon in the darkness. Of all the dragons the source had leeched soulfire from, there was still one that remained with some to spare.

I braced myself as we approached. The fear was still there, striking through my heart with cold spikes with every glance at the dissipated sky. I tried to force it down, to focus—but it was impossible. We had tried so, _so_ hard to break through to the source. We had been _so_ close. I knew it was stupid to try to convince such a lost, broken creature to listen, to change its ways—but _gods_ , we had _tried_ and we had been _so close!_

It was with solemn resignation that I pressed myself closer to Toothless, narrowing my eyes at the storm of stolen light. I knew that deep down, there must be _something_ good in there, _something_ worth saving, _something_ that _had_ been cursed...but…

...but the Dragon of the Sun and Dragoness of the Moon were _gone_ , and I couldn't shake the feeling that it was all our fault. We had to fix this, even if it meant fighting and hurting the very creature we had tried so hard to heal.

Whether it saw us or not, the source didn't react. Toothless swirled underneath it and rose up close to its side, snatching as much as he could in his claws and tearing it away. The soulfire swarmed past us, singing at my exposed skin and making the air around me burn even in my lungs. I ducked close to my brother, thankful that he was shielding me from more harm; without him, I would be burnt to a crisp.

Toothless took us far out, dragging a river of soulfire behind him, and then swept us up into a steep ascent. We went up and up into the horribly empty sky, let gravity pull us to a stop, and then flipped into a dive.

The soulfire barreled into the source at high speed, crashing into its shell with such force that it sent the rest of the soulfire in disarray, swirling wildly like leaves caught in a spiral of wind.

In the intense heat, I had finally begun to regain some feeling—and, abruptly, it was swept away with an icy chill.

The source was looking at us.

" _You…_ " I heard it whisper.

" _Source!_ " I called. " _You got what you want! Please, stop!_ "

" _If you don't want to be a monster, then you will stop!_ " Toothless tried to command it. " _Or everything will end!_ "

" _No…_ " it murmured. Its voice was caught up in the sound of roiling soulfire, like tides crashing against rocks. I just barely heard it mumble something about us lying, about being whole, about being itself again.

" _Then you can_ be _yourself!_ " Toothless roared. " _But look around you! You are hurting everyone! Do you_ want _that?!_ "

It moaned that we had to be lying, that we had only ever tried to hurt it by keeping soulfire away, even now. It grieved that it had trusted us—truly and deeply trusted us—and that we had been tricking it the entire time. The soulfire swarmed around and around it, and its voice hardened.

It paused and then spoke slowly and clearly, almost as if to make sure even I would perfectly understand—and I did, deep to my heart.

" _Nobody will ever control me again!_ "

The shell of soulfire shattered, bursts of white-hot lightning snapping across its surface. The roar of soulfire suddenly rose and consumed all else. The behemoth of fog swept away, dissipating under the inferno like morning mist hovering above a still lake. I winced against Toothless as the light tore away at my eyes and fire crackled past like living auroras. By some miracle, it didn't burn me.

Like a crack of thunder, there was a sudden silence, leaving my ears ringing.

I blinked, struggling to see past the spots swarming my vision, and reared away with shock.

Hovering in front of us, flying on its own two wings, its scales and body seemingly only made of vibrant soulfire, the source threw back its head and let out a joyful laugh. It swirled in the air, did a loop at stunning speeds around us, and celebrated in a wild dance through the skies.

It was the same size as before, its form almost as indiscernible. I could make out a slender body, two wings, four legs, a sleek tail…and ever-present, a ball of condensed soulfire at its forehead. With every flap of its wings, it trailed soulfire behind it like an aurora, and I could have sworn that the stars seemed to pass through that light.

It was a beautiful, otherworldly, horrifying sight.

Toothless was the first to make a move. He inched just a little closer. The source whipped around to face us and backed away, making sure to hover above us.

Its eyes pierced through mine. The fear and panic I had grown accustomed to seeing in it had vanished, making it almost unrecognizable. Now there was the wild joy of victory and even...something calmer.

Maybe, then…

" _Source!_ " I cried out to it. " _Please, stop! Why be whole if there's nothing left?_ "

" _You don't have to be a monster!_ " Toothless added on. " _You don't_ want _to be, don't you?_ "

The source hovered there, peering down at us. For the first time, its expression was almost unreadable.

"… _no, I don't…_ " it murmured.

Warmth returned to me as it shifted its gaze elsewhere.

Behind us.

" _Look out!_ " I shouted.

Toothless plunged. The blaze of soulfire missed us by a hair and the draft rocked us wildly back and forth. It was nearly the radius of a house, scorching at my back, and it lit the world up with dazzling blue-green light.

It hit its mark. A flash of white blinded me for half a second. There was a surreal pause, an unnerving moment of silence.

Then the boom of the explosion erupted in the stillness, as if the earth itself had snapped in two. A violent, sparkling explosion rocked Drago's armada at its center, sending fire and shrapnel flinging hundreds of feet in all directions. The young King, still lingering close by, reared up on two paws and let out a wail. He barreled straight towards Berk's bay, skirting around the invasion, and then tried to curl up in the collapsed remains of the docks to hide.

Shadows flickered against the sudden, burning light. Song dragons that had been trapped on the armada flung into the sky, fleeing towards their "nestmates" that had been scattered around Berk. The beam of soulfire had, somehow, been directed _around_ them...freeing them in the process.

" _Oh_ ," Toothless said. " _Well, that works._ "

" _Toothless!_ " I hissed. Then, looking up, I gasped, "Toothless!"

The next burst of soulfire was far, far off—but that didn't stop it from sending an enormous updraft our way. It hit us like a punch to the gut. With two screams, we were spinning wildly around and around.

Another flash of searing white, another earth-rending boom. I clung to Toothless as tight as I could, but the force of the spin was too much—it was as if the source had reached down and wrestled me off.

I flung off into the darkness. Curling up, I wrenched my wings open just as another blaze of soulfire was sent upon the armada, blinding me in its brilliance. I dimly saw shadows darting past—song dragons flying like their lives depended on it, which it did—and the turbulence they trailed behind them jostled me to and fro.

Straining my arms and wings, I managed to right myself into a slow glide, heading back out towards the armada. Which would have been great, except for one problem: I was flying low enough to be dangerously close to the sea stacks that rose like mountains out of the ocean, and I was going to get within reach of them very soon.

" _Toothless!_ " I cried as, again, dragons of shadow tore past, and I was tugged and pulled through the air by great gusts of wind.

My vision finally returned to me, and I almost wished it hadn't. Right in front of me was a sea stack, too wide to swerve around.

" _Hiccup!_ " Toothless screeched from somewhere far off. " _Look out!_ "

A burst of intense heat came from above, followed by the pillars and ocean around me jumping into view as they were illuminated.

The source leveled out besides me. Even with its stunning transformation, those eyes—vivid and living and filled with emotion—were still the same. It was looking at me with victory…and, strangely enough, confliction.

" _I'm sorry_ ," I gasped. " _You were right. We didn't tell you to protect everyone. We thought we could help you without soulfire._ Please, _stop._ " I stared deep into its eyes. "Please. _This won't help. This won't fix everything. It just makes it worse._ "

The source looked away, staring forward. A small sigh escaped it.

It snapped towards me.

I yelped as burning claws wrapped into the fabric of my wingsuit. The ocean dropped beneath me, like I was falling _up_ into the sky. We skirted just over the sea stack that I was about to crash into, and only then did the source let go. Still too far to do anything, Toothless outright _roared_ with fear and outrage.

 _It didn't burn?_ I wondered distantly, panting with shock and looking up at it.

The source looked away almost guiltily, avoiding my eyes.

Just behind it, I _finally_ caught sight of my brother: a light in the emptiness, a shooting star racing towards us. Toothless barreled through the air at full speed with soulfire blazing through his scales and his eyes nearly glowing with determination, preparing to outright tackle the source away.

The source followed my gaze, lurched away with a fearful gasp, and flared its wings to dive at the armada. Just as it slipped past, I snapped my hands out.

My fingers curled around its tail...which was now solid with soulfire. Toothless cried out my name with a mixture of horror and exasperation.

Almost instantly, I realized how _stupid_ of an idea that was. The soulfire hadn't been burning me _as_ much—but that didn't mean it _wouldn't_ burn me. It seared deep into my hands, and I couldn't hold back a pained wheeze.

The source halted mid-dive and snapped its head towards me, eyes wide and confused and even a little afraid. Yet deep within them, I could also see a hint of concern.

I held on tighter, shaking with the agony of it, and sang the counter-song.

The source flinched away as if I had struck it. Not a moment later, Toothless crashed right into it, his scales ablaze with his own soul-magic. With a furious snarl, he clasped onto it with his claws and pushed _down_ with all his might, singing the counter-song as loud as he could.

" _No!_ " it wailed as we dragged it down, back towards Berk. It writhed in our grasp, but with Toothless' greater size, it couldn't break free. Its eyes, terrified and hurt and betrayed, rested on mine.

" _I'm sorry_ ," I whispered.

The pain seared up into my palms and fingers. It was too much, even for me. I let go and clutched my wings in, falling at their side, and roared, " _OUR NESTMATES, TO US!_ "

Far below, dozens and dozens of dragons and humans whipped their heads up towards me. We were close enough now that even _I_ could see them.

While we had been distracting the source, Astrid, Dad, and the others had been hard at work pulling dragon after dragon from the song—even the ones vulnerable on the invading ships. Now, in that fleeting moment that I scanned their masses, a lightness filled my chest, batting the shadows away. Every single dragon had a human close to them—a human that had helped pull them from the song.

Every single dragon was _free._

The source finally realized it, too, and with a deep breath, it boomed with the song.

Below, our nestmates rose their voice in unity. Dragons began to take off. First I saw our flare—Astrid and Stormfly, Snotlout and Hookfang, the twins and Barf and Belch, and Fishlegs and Meatlug. Below, on the invading forces' ships, Eret let out a sharp command and rose with the Color-Shifter and Four-Wing. They launched towards us as fast as they could, circling around the source and bellowing the counter-song.

Then more dragons rose…and they weren't alone and vulnerable this time. Some Vikings—especially those from the invasion—had been swept up without permission, crying out with fear and indignation as they were pulled up into the skies. Those from Berk balanced uneasily on their companion's back or neck, eyes wide but sparking with the excitement of battle. Even below, the young King lifted his head and joined in, the men on his back clinging to him and shouting encouragements.

The source wrenched away from Toothless and tried to flee, only to be chased back towards us by Stormfly and Astrid. It spun and launched in another direction—and Snotlout and Hookfang cut it off. With a panicked cry, it tucked its wings in to dive straight down, and was met with the stone-cold fury of Eret, the Color-Shifter, and the Four-Wing.

The soulfire within it flared wildly, uneasily, making its form almost impossible to discern. It darted back and forth, finding nowhere to turn to. With its voice high and tight, it screeched its song into our masses, struggling to overcome us all once more.

I flared my wings to slow down, and my brother was quick to catch me, swooping beneath me so that I could reach down and take hold onto his back.

We pulled into a hover in front of the source. Our nestmates and the freed song dragons encircled us within a perfect sphere, singing the counter-song all the while, the humans shouting encouragements.

And finally, with our voices joined together, with human and dragon keeping the other safe, with all of reality descended into shadowy nothingness, with nothing left within us but blind, stupid hope, we filled the emptiness in our hearts and home with our echoed songs.

 **o.O.o**

 _If the song is hatred, then the counter-song is love_ , the old King had once told us. _It is opposite to it in every way._

The source whimpered its song, only for it to trail off, crushed beneath the collective force of _two_ nest's worth of dragons defying it. It fluttered in a tight circle, clawed at its head, and wailed. The soulfire composing its body sparked and writhed. Bursts of it sparked off, swirling past like living things.

Soul-magic was not only the magic of the gods, but also of the dragon's very being. The song had been used to steal it—and now, as I watched streaks of soulfire seep off of the source like embers creeping off a fire, I realized that the counter-song could give it back.

" _No!_ " it sobbed. " _Please, no!_ "

Toothless and I crept close enough to touch as it hovered there. Eyes wide, it curled in on itself, small and helpless and confused. It snapped its head towards us and snarled. More soulfire broke off from its body, flaring wildly into our masses.

It only wanted to be free, it wheezed. It only wanted to be whole.

" _I know_ ," I whispered, reaching a paw out. The source tucked away, almost like it was clinging its prize to itself, and I stretched closer. " _That's why we came back for you. We can still help._ You _can still help._ "

It let me rest my hand rest on its forehead. I winced at the burn. The counter-song filled me with newfound strength, and I ground my teeth and bore through it. The soulfire curled around my hand, but didn't catch it and climb up it like I thought it would.

" _You're not a monster_ ," I said. " _I_ know _you aren't. You showed me._ "

The source's eyes shone with disbelief. It wrenched away and flew in a circle, desperate to find a way out and seeing none. With a panicked wheeze, it opened its maw wide, fueling soulfire into a fireblast. The heat, although still stunningly intense, seemed weaker now.

It aimed its fire directly at us. Agonized eyes settled on mine, and it hesitated.

" _You're not_ ," I repeated, my paw hanging in the air, my heart hammering in my chest.

" _Source,_ stop," Toothless said in a firm-yet-gentle command. " _Aren't you_ tired _of this?_ "

Fear filled its eyes.

It _screamed_ with terror at us. It wouldn't let us take its soulfire away—it wouldn't let us make it empty again, tear its own being away from it again.

If we wouldn't, then it would destroy the shadows itself.

The source flared its wings, sending soulfire blazing in a wide swath around it. The counter-song dimmed for just a second as our nestmates flinched away. The source took its chance, barreling straight into their ranks, shoving aside all who moved in front of it.

My heart sunk. " _No!_ " I shouted.

Toothless was already giving chase, pounding his wings to stay right on the source's tail. It was bursting with wild flares of erratic soulfire, and with each dazzling bout of light, we were pounded with powerful winds. It slowed us down just enough that it got there first.

The source swept over the armada, swinging its head as it scoured the bleak ships for its target.

Men scrambled on the ships that remained. Machines groaned.

Artillery and projectiles and nets rose up to meet the source. Catapults launched at it, veering far off-mark and exploding against sea stacks and Berk's cliffs. Arrows and spears whistled through the air, some piercing straight through its body and finding nothing to snag. Nets whirled towards it and caught flame midair, burning to dust before they even made contact.

Toothless and I weren't so lucky, and we spiraled and swerved and ducked around the stray objects that were launched in our general direction. The both of us bellowed out the counter-song, uncaring of _who_ saw us—not that the men on the armada even cared about us anymore. The closer the source got, the more the men aboard screamed in terror and wept prayers to their gods. Some even abandoned ship, leaping clear off and plunking into the unnaturally-still ocean below.

The source ignored this all, shooting straight for the tallest ship, the one that towered over the rest: Drago's quarters, where it had been held in the shadows, tied up and wounded. The vessel was lilting to the side now, her belly slowly filling with water.

The source reached the tower and screamed a challenge.

The shadows seemed to awaken, snapping away from the darkness and melting into shape. Drago stepped forward, and the sword he held in his hand reflected the soulfire like it had been set aflame itself.

The source's form sparked and wavered. Its voice shook with fear and apprehension. It shrieked that it would be free at last, that it would no longer feel its pain anymore. It readied its fire, condensing as much soulfire as it could in its jaw.

Drago braced himself, readying his sword.

" _No_ ," I said.

Toothless and I finally caught up to them and pulled into a hover directly behind Drago, out of sight. My brother paused, eyes flicking between him and the source.

I stood up on his shoulders. He whipped his head towards me, eyes enormous. The spark flashed between us.

 _Hiccup, no!_

I launched off of him and spread my wings. We were so close to the deck that Toothless had only just cried out to me when I made a rough landing and stumbled to my feet between Drago and the source.

I was too late.

The source let loose its soulfire upon us the moment I hit the ground. Its eyes, horrified and bewildered, were the last thing I saw before a river of soulfire curled around me, engulfing me within its heavenly light.

 **o.O.o**

 _...Savior…_

 _Pain._ Everything was pain. Fire swirling, searing at my skin, roiling inside my lungs, blinding my eyes, rending through my weak, vulnerable human body, curling through my thoughts from the agony of it.

… _have hope…_

I screamed into the fury of it. Reaching my hands out, I clenched my eyes shut and tried desperately to shield myself, grasping at air, at the godly inferno, at _anything_ for purchase.

… _for there is still life left worth saving…_

Toothless. Dad. I had to hold on, if only for them. I bared my teeth and _pushed_ back, refusing to let it overcome me, defying the coming of death with all the strength of my soul.

… _for there is always darkness before the light…_

 **o.O.o**

I opened my eyes.

The soulfire swerved around me like I was a stone in a river, swooping past in a blazing fury.

My chest heaved with frantic, shallow breaths. I stared at my hands. With reckless abandon, I threw my attention inwards, to my shell of magic.

Empty. Still empty. But…

Soul-magic was never as simple as that.

I felt it, somewhere deep inside me, filling my body with bright energy. It was like a vibrant spark, ready to burst into an inferno. It had been with me this whole time, manifesting itself in small ways, in the link between Toothless and myself, and I had never once realized it.

I pushed it outwards to the soulfire around me. It receded, engulfing us in within folds of itself.

"How…"

I turned around. Drago was on the ground, his sword clenched in his hands.

He seemed to suck the life out of the soulfire around us, a black char darkening the light. His eyes glinted with fury and disbelief. My heart leapt up into my throat as he rose to his feet and flared his Shadow-Blender cloak, his sword raised towards me. Shadows seemed to swarm from him into the soulfire, blotting it with nothingness.

Drago took a heaving step towards me. I distantly noticed a limp in his step, burns marring his skin.

"You are a _thing_ ," he snarled, "a half-breed _monster._ How can you control them? How did you get them under your command?"

I stood still, my limbs locked in place, my eyes locked on his sword. My heart hammered in my chest. The soulfire writhed around me. Distantly, outside this world wrapped in flames, I heard a scream.

"I didn't," I rasped. "All I have ever done is try to move on…to try and find hope."

"Hope?" Drago sneered. "It is impossible to hope when the world is filled with these _monsters_ …" He pointed at me with the sword, making my heart pick up twice as fast. "…when danger lurks in every shadow. Control is the _only_ way to survive."

His eyes swarmed with unhinged madness. He took a lumbering step forward. The dead Shadow-Blender cloak fluttered at his feet.

"No," I said softly. "Hope is _how_ you survive. Even when it seems like everything is destroyed…when you feel like you're going to get swallowed up in it…" I looked up past the whorl of soulfire, where I felt _something_ tearing away at it. "You find something to hold onto…and that makes it worth it. _That's_ how you survive…how you find light in the dark."

Drago advanced further, just feet away.

"I know I'll never get better. Not all the way." I took in a shuddering breath and faced him. "But maybe…maybe there's hope for you, too." I frowned. "I've never wanted to see you killed in cold blood. Revenge…holding grudges…what good is it even for?"

His eyes filled with contempt and disgust, his upper lip curling in a crooked snarl. The man of shadows lunged.

Deep within me, I tugged at the soul-magic that had been lying dormant for months. The soulfire spiraled down into my hands, condensing and compacting itself, revealing the real world outside.

The sword rushed straight for my heart.

Toothless clamped his teeth on it, stopping it an inch away.

Drago's furious expression gave way to shock. With a scream, Toothless rose to his feet and lifted him clear off the ground. He spun and pounded Drago into the metal wall of his ship. The impact was so loud that I flinched, my ears ringing.

The sword clattered to the ground. Drago slumped to the deck, blood trickling down from a wound on his head.

My brother reared upright, readying his claws and preparing to throw all his weight down and shred Drago beneath him.

" _Toothless_ ," I said.

He spun around. His eyes were glossy in the bright light.

" _Hiccup_ ," he sobbed with relief, sprinting the short distance between us. He snapped a paw out and held me close to him, pressing his forehead against mine. I leaned into him, still clutching the soulfire in my hands, even as it sent tingling bursts of pain through them.

" _I'm sorry_ ," I said. "That was pretty stupid."

" _Oh, was it?_ " he growled. " _Dragoness of the Moon, I'm so happy you're okay._ " He pulled away and threw a sneer at someone behind me. " _No thanks to_ you."

I turned around. The source lingered in the air, its body just barely shimmering with soulfire now, its eyes amazed and frightened. Its gaze locked on the soulfire clasped between both of my hands.

It fell to the deck with a sharp, pained gasp. " _But…but…_ " the source stammered. It inched closer, spine arched, and then curled up onto the deck.

It began to weep, the fake sun resting in my hands glimmering in its vivid eyes.

" _But…how…why_ you?"

Then, as if flicking a switch—I understood. Horror turned me cold, making my limbs stiffen.

Through heaving gasps, the source spoke slowly and carefully, so much so that I understood perfectly.

" _This is all I have ever wanted back._ "

It took me several seconds to compose myself, for everything to click into place, for all of it to make sense.

"… _Sphere?_ "

Toothless stiffened at my side.

As if struck down, Sphere collapsed, his gods-cursed body wracked with sobs. He clawed at his head, the soulfire within him crackling with wild abandon. It took him only a few moments to compose himself, and with shuddering breaths, he stared with absolute horror into the very thing in my palms that had earned him his name—and sealed his fate.

" _I..._ " he whispered. He craned his neck towards Drago, lying limp on his ship. " _I…_ " He turned towards the empty heavens that he had ripped apart, towards the war-ravaged Berk and all of the dragons hovering above it. Finally, he rested his eyes on ours—and somehow, they seemed...clearer. More in-control, more present.

Without warning, he flung himself down, stretching out his neck. " _Kill me._ "

I slowly shook my head, still struggling to work through it all.

Sphere stared at us, his eyes turmoiled. So slow that he was easy to understand, he growled, " _I am a_ monster _. Kill me._ "

Again, I shook my head, turning to Toothless.

His eyes narrowed—the idea was _definitely_ tempting him. He looked at me, the soulfire sitting within my paws, and then Sphere. He closed his eyes and let out a long, weary sigh.

" _Sphere_ ," he said, his voice still fuming but also still ringing with shock. " _You must know how to fix this._ " He threw his head up towards the dead heavens. In a softer tone, he murmured, " _You were the master of soulfire, once._ "

" _How_ can _I fix this?_ " Sphere rasped, his voice forlorn and resigned. " _How, when I am nothing but a monster? Kill me!_ "

I slowly inched a paw away from the soulfire and let it rest on his forehead. Toothless was quick to lift his paw and hold the soulfire with me, taking the sting away just a little bit.

" _You're not_ ," I repeated. " _Don't you_ want _to fix this?_ " I gestured out at the sheer destruction surrounding us.

Sphere's eyes darkened as he took it all in. " _…yes…_ " he breathed.

" _Then_ help _us,"_ Toothless pressed. With a tinge of frightened uncertainty, he went on, " _They…the gods…we_ have _to bring Them back._ Everyone _will die without Them, Sphere._ "

Sphere grimaced. He closed his eyes and hung his head. " _No…no…"_

" _It is fine_ ," I said, trying to tighten my grip on him despite the pain. " _It is fine, Sphere. We can still fix this, right? We can still save everyone?_ "

He met our gazes and returned his own to the sphere of soulfire in our paws. " _I am not worth saving."_

" _Well...we_ are _Saviors_ ," Toothless said, although his eyes remained hard. " _It's our job._ "

Sphere finally ripped his eyes from the soulfire we held just in front of him, just out of reach. He shook his head and craned his head upwards.

For a long moment, he said nothing, staring mournfully up into the sky where the stars once shone.

" _I_ am _a monster_ ," he murmured. " _After all this time, I became just like her…_ " He inched his eyes down to ours. " _Now...I see why They chose you two._ "

He hesitated. Then, closing his eyes, he fell silent.

It took him several seconds to resolve himself.

" _Perhaps this…this, I may do…for what little I am worth."_

With his voice still shaking and uneasy, Sphere began to sing the counter-song. Toothless and I took it up with him, letting it rise soft and mournful into the silence.

The soulfire spiraled through him and stripped away, dancing towards the sphere of light in my hand. It crept off of him like hundreds of small auroras, making it seem as though we were enormous gods looking down onto the world. Spark by spark, more of him was swept away, more of him returned to the fog-shrouded creature we had known him as.

When it was done, the spot on his forehead was cold to the touch and I could scarcely see him anymore.

Sphere opened his eyes. He seemed to have aged decades, his expression despondent. He heaved a sigh and nodded.

Toothless wrapped his tail around me, and I leaned into him. Together, we reached up, beckoning the soulfire to the heavens, and let it go.

It exploded into wild streaks of color, dancing across the skies with gleeful abandon. As it swirled through the sky, some streaks of soulfire spiraled back towards the invading ships and Berk...back towards the still, limp forms of the song dragons that had fallen in the fight. The people on the armada gasped with fear. Those on Berk cheered. Dragons cried out with amazement, especially so as those we thought were lost slowly rose to their feet. All the world watched as the bewildering light traced its joyous path back to freedom.

When it was over, darkness fell. The temperature plunged, colder than death.

Hours seemed to pass in that great nothingness. Silence descended upon us—and then fear. Dragons and humans alike began to cry out in terror and sorrow as the world seemed to draw to a close around us.

Wrapped in shadows and nothingness, Toothless and I clung to each other. Together, we bore through it. Together, the fear and pain would not overtake us.

Sphere slipped away from us, and when I blindly reached out for him, breathing his name into the crisp, freezing air, he was gone.

And then...

In that everlasting despair, the emptiness began to give way. After our many hours plunged into darkness and hopelessness, we had survived.

The sun was rising.


	33. Chapter 29

**Hello, everyone!**

 **So, in the wake of last chapter…those comments I've been dropping about checking Unheard Whispers? I REALLY REALLY suggest taking a looksie. Especially at the What Was Hidden chapters. Because Sphere is in them hahaha**

 **Also, to those with sketch requests—don't worry, I haven't forgotten! Sorry that it's taken so long, my life has been pretty hectic lately.**

 **With all that out of the way, I want to thank everyone for such an overwhelmingly positive response to last chapter! Seriously, you guys rock...especially** **gaylord420, TheFuriousNightFury, SuperFan, NightShadow9558, Ashora, Viperclaw14, xxjacksionxx, Samateus-Taal, CrisDLZ, HawkTooth, TheFuriousNightFury, Legodood93, Flopy, ObiBen213, Elt-1080, FyrandTheGryffinclaw, JustANormalHTTYDFan, Blindhawk, Alexisminas, Surprise Crayfish, TheWhisperingWarrior, Cyeithen, FMAlover32, ReclusiveShadows, Varghul, greenone15, Crysist, and all anonymous reviewers. Also, I want to thank my beta Crysist for smashing through this with me in one go!**

 **Without further ado, next chapter! Depending on my schedule, the next update will either be this Sunday or next weekend!**

* * *

 **Chapter 29**

Stoick

The sun rose onto a world reborn, gracing the darkness on the horizon with the barest streaks of brilliant orange like flames shooting across the sky.

"Keep hold of them!" I shouted into our masses, walking alongside the cliffs of Berk and eyeing the armada, the god-of-dragons in our crumpled bay, the fleet docked within the shrapnel-littered waters. "We don't know if this is finished yet!"

"Aye, Chief!" came the resounding call. Every villager was holding onto a dragon, and I was going to keep it that way. They would not succumb to that horrible illness of the mind, not when I had a say in it.

Not when I had seen what it had done to my son.

I scoured the still-darkened skies for a sign of them—for _any_ of them. For Hiccup and Toothless. For Astrid and her friends. Thor, I would even settle for the stranger Eret and his wild dragon. All of the latter were busy making sure no dragon was left behind. The former…

They had vanished along with the godless creature of light what felt like a lifetime ago. The sun had reappeared in the heavens only moments ago, but the fear that the source had dragged them down with it made my limbs stiffen and my heart race.

Approaching the cliffs, I squinted into the wreckage below as the growing light showed it for what it was. The cataclysm had been stopped...but the last I had seen of them was when they had been facing a creature that had all but become a god. I needed to make sure they were alright, _now._

A pair of eyes appeared inches in front of mine.

Then a dragon.

I leaned away as it melted into view, its head lowered to my eye level. A loud call came from below, and up swept a four-winged dragon—a Stormcutter, of all things. It narrowed its eyes at me and raised its lip, its pointed stare focused on the hammer I kept at my side.

Upon the colorful dragon's back, Eret tried to casually lean into a lounging position—only to scramble as he almost fell off. I said nothing, merely raising an eyebrow, and he sheepishly busied himself trying to act natural.

"I, uh, I meant to do that!" he said.

"Have you seen Hiccup and Toothless?" I demanded.

Eret frowned. "I thought they were up here. The big fella here was startin' to get antsy down there." His eyes flickered down to the invading fleet.

I pulled my spyglass from my belt and set its sight upon them. The dragons were shooting confused looks around themselves and our way—and the Vikings even more so. With a sigh, I closed the spyglass. "We'll handle that later. At least they aren't fighting each other."

"Speaking of which," Eret said. "Would ya mind if my men and I spend a day or so here? We've nowhere else to go, and no ship to take us."

I set him with a hard look and let him squirm.

"Take me to that armada, and I'll think on it," I said.

"Right away, then!" Eret said with obedient cheer. "Well, big fella, what do you say?" He gestured at me and then pointed at the armada.

The dragon snorted daintily and hovered in place.

"C'mon, don't you want to go rescue your friends?" Eret said. "You seem like the kind of dragon that likes to keep his debts even!"

The colorful dragon threw an almost exasperated look at its friend and clucked. The Stormcutter huffed, gurgling low in its throat. Its eyes flicked behind us—and it suddenly snapped to attention.

"There you are!"

A shadow flickered overhead. Stormfly spread her wings wide and thumped to the ground at my side. Without wasting a moment, she began whining and nosing me for attention.

I set a hand on her muzzle and turned to Astrid. "Have you—"

"No," she said, her brows knitted and her lips pressed together. She leaned down and offered me a hand.

I sighed, glanced at Stormfly, and took it. A sense of unease and vulnerability struck me as I seated myself behind Astrid. Nestled between the dragon's shoulders, I was completely at her mercy. With no solid ground beneath me, I was forced to trust her to keep after me, leaving my fate resting in her claws for every moment we were in the air. Yet just as easily as she could bring my end, I could do the same for her with a swift strike to the wings or neck.

It occurred to me, not for the first time, that riding a dragon wasn't a simple novelty or sport. It was an act of trust and companionship between dragon and human. Glancing at Eret still casually seated atop the colorful dragon's back, it came as no surprise to me how quickly the two had bonded—as much as they acted otherwise. It was an act of constant danger…and constant trust in each other to avoid it for their opposite's sake.

After a brief moment of gathering my wits, I turned to Eret. "You come with us. We could use your inside knowledge."

"Very well," he said, "in exchange for refuge."

I nodded. Astrid patted Stormfly on the side.

Stormfly gave a loud cry and launched into the air. The wind twirled past and my stomach sank to my feet. The ground plunged below as if the earth had opened up and swallowed it. For a heart-stopping moment, Stormfly cheerfully rocked back and forth, just barely balancing us upon her back. The lethal drop between us and the ocean made itself painfully clear, and I could do nothing but try to hold on tighter.

"Stormfly!" Astrid scolded her. The easygoing dragon glanced over at us, and I could have sworn she almost looked sheepish as she evened out.

Eret shouted something behind us, but the wind caught his voice and carried it away before I could make sense of him. A quick glance over my shoulder showed him, the colorful dragon, and the Stormcutter making haste to follow.

We swept over the god-of-dragons, which blinked up at us with huge eyes. There was an upstart on the invading ships as we flew overhead, but none made any motions to shoot us out of the sky. We passed overhead undisturbed, leering down at the cowards as the sunlight inched across the waters and onto their vessels.

"It's crazy," Astrid said, her eyes trailing over the fleet and all the baffled dragons and Vikings standing upon them. "How fast things change."

"Aye," I said. I spared a moment to glance at the sun, almost afraid that it would disappear again. It painted the heavens with vibrant, warm colors, chasing the deep blue of night away. It was a beautiful sight...and yet, sunrises were never dimmed with one's feet firmly set in their home. "But some changes, I could do without." Turning my eyes away, back towards the armada with its shadows dissipating into the vivid sunlight, I growled, "The moment we find them, we get them as far away from the armada as we can. This isn't over yet. We need to chase them off, once and for all."

"Right, Chief!" Astrid said.

"Wait, what?!" Eret cried behind us. "Speak up, I can't hear you!"

There was no more time. A short skirt over the empty ocean, and we overtook the armada.

It was well beyond satisfying to see the utter panic and disarray upon its godless vessels. The entire midsection had all but vanished, leaving a debris-filled hole in its wake. The chains linking the ships were almost all broken, leaving each piece of the puzzle slightly out-of-place. Some vessels were taking on water, inching down into the ocean. Others were scorched or smashed. Men scurried here and there, and many who saw us turned to cowardice, darting out of view like small fish hiding under stones.

The cages and traps within the armada were empty. It left me both relieved and worried; at the very least, we knew that Hiccup and Toothless weren't captured in the open. However, they very well could be inside a ship somewhere.

Surely they weren't—surely too little time had passed?

"This way!" Eret shouted. He pointed at the tallest ship, the one that rose like a tower far over the rest. It was drooping at an angle; the vessel was doomed already, and would be swallowed by the ocean within a few hours.

The colorful dragon followed his hand and raised his lip in a snarl. Even Stormfly cast an anxious look to Astrid.

"That way, girl," Astrid soothed Stormfly. "C'mon, you can do it!"

With that, the Nadder gave a happy chirp and swayed through the air towards it in easy, carefree dips and dives. The men of the armada below made no attempts at us, just as lost and breathless and dazzled by what we had all witnessed as the rest of us.

I saw them well before we approached. The deck of the ship was still cast in the cooler shades of night, but the light had grown enough for me to see three figures upon it.

All pretenses fell.

Stormfly swooped over the deck, and right before the chance left me, I leapt off of her. Astrid gave a sharp cry of protest, snapping her hand out to try to catch me.

I landed onto the deck, rolled to bleed off my momentum, and squared myself in front of them. Hiccup and Toothless stared at me with shock, their eyes wide and vibrant despite the weary way they slumped against the wood of the deck. Both of them looked absolutely exhausted, and although they were standing to face the monster before them, I could tell that their strength had been spent.

"Dad?!" Hiccup wheezed.

A sharp cough from behind me interrupted everything else. Hiccup and Toothless both trained their eyes over my shoulder, the delighted shock in their eyes melting into dread.

I calmly turned around and eased myself into a battle stance.

Still masked in shadows, Drago lifted his head, his cold, dead eyes glinting with cold flames. He curled his lip up in a grin that looked more of a snarl, slammed his hand to the deck, and lurched to his feet. His face was painted with his own blood, making him appear just as monstrous and gruesome as we all knew him to be.

It seemed that we had gotten here just in time. My hand flew to my belt, where my trusted hammer was just itching to delve out long-overdue justice.

Toothless let out a sharp bark—a sound I now recognized as a warning. Not a moment later, there was a pounding of feet below as someone barreled up the stairs leading to the upper deck.

I crouched, narrowing my eyes and easing my hammer into a striking position. If I would have to fight two men, then so be it.

With pale skin, burns marring her skin and hair singed, and wide, furious eyes, Bertha of the Bog Burglars came charging onto the upper deck.

"Stoick!" she yelped. "What's the meanin' of all this? What did—"

I roared a battle cry and charged. Drago had scarcely raised his arm to defend himself before I barreled into him, snatching up his chainmail and landing a solid blow to the chin. The impact stung as my fingers grated against his cheekbone, but I hardly spared it a second thought before following up with a second punch to the gut.

" _You_ ," I snarled. Drago began to hack and cough with a hoarse laugh, only adding fuel to my rage. I wrung my fingers through his cloak and pulled him towards me until we were nose-to-nose.

Drago was just as exhausted as Hiccup and Toothless, caught without a weapon and wounded, and yet he still smiled. "Do you think you've won this battle?" he mocked. "Do you think this is over? That your village is still safe from me? Your precious half-breed monster you call your boy?"

"You sent your men all throughout the archipelago for my son," I seethed. "You spread rumors throughout the tribes to turn them against us. You sent your dog _Bertha_ on us to seize him. You trapped him on your ships and you beat him like a disobedient dog. You tortured him and Toothless for the sheer entertainment of it. You destroyed an entire nest of dragons, you thought that you could control a god, and then you _dared_ try to do the same to our home."

Throughout this all, Drago outright beamed, his eyes glimmering with manic victory. "Then it seems I've won."

"No," I said, my voice low and cold. "You've lost."

I dug my fingers like claws into the fabric of his cloak and wrenched my arm back. The cloak ripped off of him, and without a second thought, I flung it into the air behind me.

Toothless _roared._ He filled his gaping maw with enough gas to decimate a house and sent it blazing into the cloak. The following explosion was so vividly _intense_ that it blinded me and even burned at the insides my lungs. Even I knew he had channeled all his magic into it.

When the small sunburst had passed, there was nothing left but scraps and dust, drifting away like autumn leaves returning to the earth.

As the rush of sudden heat faded, Toothless lowered his head, his ears and frills drooping, and spared the ashen remains a brief, mournful look. Hiccup shared this with him, leaning into him with one arm slung over his other half's neck. He was the first to rip his eyes away, settling a weary, careful stare on Drago.

Far above us, behind them and readied to attack, Eret and Astrid hovered with their dragons. They, too, had their full attention on the leader of the armada.

I spun back towards the furious, vulnerable Drago. He took a limping step backwards, lowering his head and glaring up at me like a dragon about to charge.

"After all you've done," I said, "after all the efforts you've gone through to torment my son and my people, to turn all the tribes and even the gods against us…" I gestured out towards the sunrise-lit Berk, with all its people and dragons gathered freely at the cliffs that now seemed revitalized with the coming day. "You've lost your prizes, your ships, and the people following you. Yet you think you've won?"

"My men are still loyal to me," Drago spat. "And they will fight not like their lives depend on it, but _because_ their lives depend on it." He turned towards a shell-shocked Bertha and pointed at me. "Keep him busy!"

Bertha stood her ground and said nothing. Her hands clenched into fists, her jaw set, and that old, stubborn fire lit up in her eyes.

"Disobedience again?" Drago mused. "What about your people?"

Bertha grit her teeth, fury sending dark lines crossing her face. Tears welled up in her eyes. "Many of my people are _dead_ because of you!" she raged. "Trapped here on this armada as you poked at a god until it snapped and attacked us! I saw some 'a my men get caught in that blast! I was lucky enough to be just on tha outside—or _unlucky_ enough, I would say!"

She took a step forward, no longer the underling but the proud, strong Viking Chief I had come to know across the years. In a single, smooth motion, she withdrew a sword from her side.

Drago's confident, amused grin faded. He narrowed his eyes, clenched his jaw, and took another step backwards.

"You're a well-traveled man, and you've got quite the following of slaves to show for it." I took a step forward, as did Bertha. "But there's one thing you've forgotten."

"And what is that, oh wise Viking Chief?" Drago sneered even as he was cornered.

"You can force submission all you want," I growled. "You can torture and scream and play as many clever little mind games as you so desire." I closed the gap between us so that I was eye-to-eye with him. "But loyalty is not forced. It is _earned_. It is earned through _love_. Through _family_. And the lengths people will go to protect those they love are far greater than any control you could ever force on them."

I snatched his chainmail up in my hand, whirled, and threw him aside. He stumbled, and as he did, I kicked the back of his knees, forcing him to fall to the ground.

"Your fate was sealed the moment you laid a finger on my son."

Turning to Bertha, I gestured at her belt and motioned for her to throw it to me.

"Dad!" Hiccup gasped, his voice hoarse. "Wait—!"

I snatched the rope from the air and made quick work tying Drago's arms behind him. Then I hauled him to his feet and took him straight past a baffled Hiccup and Toothless, even as he growled like a beast and writhed in my grasp. I didn't stop until we were on the edge of the deck, overlooking the destruction of his armada, the hesitation of the Viking tribes, the god-of-dragons lying relaxed in our bay, and the thriving life that persisted even at the edge of a destroyed Berk.

"This is what you've won," I said in his ear. " _Defeat_."

Drago _roared_ like a dragon, desperate to wrangle his way out of my grasp. I slammed him up against the guardrails, knocking the breath out of him.

" _People of the armada!_ " I bellowed. My voice was amplified by all the metal around us, echoing into even the farthest reaches of the dissolving shadows. "You are free of this man's chains! You are no longer his prisoners! You are _no longer_ his means to an end! You are _no longer_ at the mercy of a man whose arrogance was so great that he dared trap a god!"

Among the destruction, men looked to each other uncertainly. They began to chatter amongst themselves, still hesitant.

One person cried out in amazement, "He's tied up Drago!"

"C'mon, lads!" Eret shouted from atop his dragon. He stood up on its shoulders, wobbled, and then made an effort to look calm and collected. The men of the archipelago gaped, their full attention on them—and Eret knew it. With a dashing grin, he opened his arms wide in a welcoming gesture. "You know just as well as I the consequences of working with a madman!" he shouted. "Always havin' to look over your shoulder, always worried about those you care about being used as hostages, always homesick!

"Well, it doesn't have to be that way anymore! I don't know about you, but I've found myself gettin' tired of constant war and dragon trappin'!" He lifted a fist in the air. "What do you say?! Do you really want more? Or are you ready for _freedom!_ "

There was a baffled, wary silence.

"Freedom?" someone gasped, followed by another. "Freedom?"

More and more meek, wary voices rose into the lifting emptiness. With growing hope and joy, the same word became more and more prominent, shoving aside the weariness and fear that had taken hold for so long.

Freedom.

The chaos slowly faded, focusing with sharp accuracy on it.

"Freedom!" the men began to chant. Some began to bang their weapons on the ground or their shields. "Freedom! Freedom!"

Eret joined in on the chanting, "Yes! Freedom! We are _free!_ "

With that, the former army dissolved into an uproar of cheering.

Drago's snarl melted into horrified confusion as his freed slaves raised their voices in celebration, and all at the sight of him bound and defeated. As he stood there, _finally_ at a loss of words, I tied him tight to a post on the guardrail.

"I'll let _them_ handle you," I spat. "See how loyal they are, now that they've seen you for who you are."

Drago writhed within his constraints. "No," he snarled, his voice so mangled that he sounded like a rabid beast. Cold, dead eyes darted across his revolting, joyous army with growing fear. " _No!_ "

I turned my back on him, facing what truly mattered.

Hiccup and Toothless ran to me, and I fell to my knees and threw my arms around them in a deep embrace. Both of trembled with deep purrs—although Hiccup was quick to cut his short—and they leaned in close to me, resting their heads on my shoulders.

"I _told_ you not to jump off of him," I scolded Hiccup.

"Sorry," he tried to laugh, although it was choked up. He buried his head into my shoulder, still vibrating with a purr I couldn't quite hear. "Thank you, Dad," he whispered.

We spared a moment before drawing away. There was still one problem left to handle.

Bertha had enough humility in her to look away, out towards the revolution on the sunlight-exposed ships around us.

For a brief moment, she said nothing, her eyes tumultuous. Behind us, Drago growled and struggled in vain to break free. Soon the cheering of the crowd drowned even him out.

"I don't know what exactly happened out there," Bertha finally said. "But there's one thing I _do_ know."

She turned back towards us and approached. Hiccup and Toothless stiffened at my side. Above, Astrid and Stormfly flew around to hover directly above her. Astrid lifted herself into a crouch and readied her axe, eyes narrowed and focused on the Bog Burglars Chief.

Bertha stopped just feet away and sighed. "All I ever wanted ta do was keep my tribe safe. To protect it from monsters." Her eyes settled on Hiccup and flickered back towards Drago, who was still writhing about like a mad beast. Her expression turned stony. "It burns me with shame to know that I was fightin' fer one this whole time. That my people were hurt because 'a it."

The Chieftain deflated with exhaustion, worn eyes cast out at Berk's bay, where some of her ships could be seen—both intact and smashed to pieces. "I was itchin' fer war, and I got it. But there's only so much my people can take. There's only so much _I_ can take."

"Then we don't have to fight anymore," Hiccup rasped, just as worn out as her. "Because _we_ can only take so much, too."

Bertha met his forlorn expression and, with a deep sigh, returned her sights back out towards the invasion and what remained of her tribe. With her eyes still distant, still locked in the past, she sheathed her sword. "What kind 'a world is this?" she murmured. "Where gods are pulled from the sky, and dragons guide 'em back?"

Hiccup gave a soft chuckle, drawing her eyes back to him. "It's a world that wants peace," he said. He lifted his arm, hesitated, and then offered his hand to her. "Don't you?"

Bertha pursed her lips. Toothless and I tensed at my son's side.

She reached out and gave his hand a rough, careless shake, as if it were a more casual gesture than anything else. "I 'spose so…dragon-boy."

I laid a hand on Hiccup's shoulder. He looked up at me, and I offered him a proud smile—one he returned shyly, with no small amount of surprise. Toothless pressed his shoulder into his, rumbling with a purr even as he cast suspicious glances Bertha's way.

With nothing left to say and a tribe to restore, Bertha grunted and turned on her heel. She walked towards the staircase that led down below, where she could mingle among the freed men of the archipelago—and the warriors of the Bog Burglars that remained. Just at the first step, she paused.

"Stoick?" she said. "After all this mess is cleaned up, yer welcome ta trade with us fer supplies." She turned her eyes away, off into the distance. "It would be a shame if yer people suffered through this comin' winter without food or shelter." She clenched her fists, undoubtedly recalling the turmoil her village had faced just last year. She began to step down the stairs.

"A damn shame…"

She disappeared from sight, and as she did, the sun finally peaked over the ocean, bringing the coming day into the light.

 **o.O.o**

Toothless

The shadow-nest shattered into pieces, cracked into tiny shards like winter ice melting away in the early spring.

It was surreal, almost something borne from a dream, to see its remnants break their bindings and go their separate ways. The speech by the human 'Eret' had struck true into the shaken, battle-worn hearts of the humans that lived there.

We did not stay long enough to see what they did to the shadow-man. While my curiosity was piqued, we had set him firmly behind us. He was no longer a threat—and it was clear from the uproar upon his floating-tree that his former slaves would make sure that was the case for the rest of the world, too.

We had survived his torment, and he would never strike us again.

Piece by piece, the shadow-nest shed its floating-trees like a mound of sand slowly being sucked back into the ocean by the tides. We held watch on Berk's cliffs, our stone-launchers and fires readied, just in case.

Hiccup and I rested against each other's sides with the King on our right and Astrid, Stormfly, Hookfang, and Snotlout on our left. Hookfang was busy engorging himself on food, which Stormfly took as an opportunity to tease him by trying to steal some every few seconds…resulting in some _very_ loud whining. The look-alikes were already off getting into some trouble, much to Barf-and-Belch's exasperation, and 'Fishleg' was sitting with his nose in some papers besides Meatlug.

The Color-Shifter and his Four-Wing also lingered close by, with 'Eret' and his nestmates crowded around them, ogling at both dragons. The Four-Wing was indifferent, although a tad uncomfortable. The Color-Shifter, on the other wing, wasn't objecting to the worshipping attention he was getting—and the Four-Wing was quick to scold him for letting it get to his head. They bickered lightly with each other, curled up with their tails intertwined, as 'Eret' wildly recounted to his nestmates how exactly he had come to be part of our flare.

I couldn't help but roll my eyes at some of the creative liberties he took in the telling of his "adventure".

For some time, all was still. The Viking floating-trees below were trapped in place by the dissolving shadow-nest, but the humans there didn't seem too eager to leave. I was surprised to see many dragons _staying_ down there, sniffing curiously at the humans that had saved them from the song at 'Eret's command. I could only suppose that, like the Color-Shifter, they wanted to learn more about those that had rescued them.

I pondered it for some time, keeping a close eye on them and every human paw that inched towards them.

Then the young King poked his head over the cliffs mere feet away, abruptly blocking everything from view.

The Vikings and dragons that were unfamiliar with him scrambled. Thank the Dragon of the Sun, they didn't attack him.

The young King flicked his eyes back and forth. He found Hiccup and me within moments and whispered, "No go? Me…me good?"

"You are," I said.

" _You are_ very _good!_ " Hiccup said warmly.

The young King beamed and puffed himself up to look bigger, flaring his ragged, deteriorating fins. "No!" he chirped.

" _That's right_ ," Hiccup chuckled.

"Dragon of the Sun," Meatlug worried. "The poor thing."

Her words struck me. A frown settled on my maw, and I turned away so that young King wouldn't see it and take it the wrong way.

" _What will we do with him?_ " I asked Hiccup.

Hiccup grimaced. "I kinda hoped that you had an idea…uh, Dad?" He twisted towards his father, who reluctantly turned his eyes away from the young King. "He's not a threat. But he really doesn't know better…about _anything_. He's been stunted all his life. I'm worried he won't be able to take care of himself."

The King sighed. "Hiccup…there's no way we can take care of a dragon this big. He's going to have to learn."

"I thought so," Hiccup groaned.

"Is there anywhere he can go?" Astrid asked. "Some remote island somewhere?"

"Another dragon nest, perhaps?" 'Fishlegs' suggested. "Somewhere he can be socialized?"

"No, he should stay!" Snotlout protested. "Nobody will mess with us!"

"Wait, what?" Stormfly asked, snapping to attention. With her distracted, Hookfang wolfed down the remainder of his food.

"We're discussing what to do with this young King here," Meatlug explained. To Hiccup and me, she said, "My Kings, I fear that without a properly-guiding paw, he would surely succumb to the elements…or worse, return to all he knows once more: slavery at the paws of humans."

Stormfly frowned, her head and tail lowered. "But I thought we were friends now."

"Friends?" the young King asked, perking up.

Stormfly grinned and eased herself into a playful crouch. "Yeah! Wanna race?"

" _NO!_ " every single adult within earshot all but roared, Hiccup and myself included.

Both young King and Stormfly lowered their heads sheepishly, although there was quite a lot of confusion on the young King's part.

"No," he grumbled, huffing and looking away.

Hiccup and I shared a conflicted look. We certainly wouldn't let him go off on his own, barely able to form coherent sentences. But our tiny island could not support him for very long. It was a simple truth, no matter how much we didn't like it.

"If I may…"

The Four-Wing broke off from his crowd of admirers and stepped towards us and the young King. He dipped into a deep bow, holding one paw out far in front of him and spreading his wings upwards. He waited.

" _Oh! Uh…rise?_ " Hiccup stammered. He overdid a commanding overtone, but it got the job done.

The Four-Wing lifted himself up, glanced at the young King, and drooped. "I loved my King," he said. "We _all_ did." He lifted a wing and beckoned the Color-Shifter closer, who stepped over and leaned against his side. "Even as they waged battle, our King refused to scorn him. He showed him mercy. He showed him compassion."

The Color-Shifter hung his head. "And what did I do?" he mumbled with shame. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and straightened upright. "Are you sure, my Four-Wing?"

"I always am, my Color-Shifter," the Four-Wing drawled with a roll of his eyes. "And I am always right."

"Except when it comes to Saviors being little helpless fledglings, hm?" the Color-Shifter snorted.

The Four-Wing stammered, shook himself off, and turned to us. "Anyways!" he said. "My point is…our King spent his final moments showing this young one kindness. And in his honor, we shall do the same. I was the second-in-command, and now the responsibility rests with me."

"Wait," I gasped. "You don't mean…you want to take care of him yourselves?"

The Four-Wing raised himself on his hind paws and swiveled towards the crowd of dragons lingering on Berk's cliffs. Many of them were _our_ nestmates—and many still were theirs.

"Our nestmates!" he cried. "Shall we continue our late King's path, and in his name, prevent another tragedy such as his from ever happening again?"

" _We shall!_ " came the resounding cry across Berk's cliffs. Many Vikings flinched with surprise, shooting confused looks at Hiccup.

"Wait, wait, wait!" 'Eret' cried, rushing forward. "What's happening?"

Hiccup was just as surprised as me—so surprised that he spoke in the wrong language at first. " _They want_ —uh, they want to take care of him."

"Well, that works!" Astrid said with relief. She gave Stormfly a pat, drawing the yearling's attention back to her. "Seems as good as any plan."

"They may know best," the King agreed. "They did live with a dragon just like him, after all."

'Eret' didn't seem too eager. He shot the Color-Shifter a solemn look. "Oh…I mean, I see. Of course. Couldn't hold the big fella down forever, now could I?"

The Color-Shifter, too, was staring at his human companion with a mixture of acceptance and longing. "What's he saying, Saviors?" he murmured. "Is he…disappointed?"

Hiccup and I both nodded. The Color-Shifter looked away guiltily.

"You've bonded with him," his Four-Wing said in a knowing tone. "My Color-Shifter, do you wish to stay with him?"

"What?! Of course not!" The Color-Shifter stammered over-dramatically. "It's just—it's simply—I fear the dumb thing will get himself killed without me! How many times have I had to save his life?"

"I thought _you_ were the one indebted to him," I said with a grin.

The Color-Shifter froze, eyes huge with embarrassment. "Well—that isn't—I'm not—" He physically shook himself off, cleared his throat, and lifted his nose. "It would be a shame for him to perish after all the lengths I've gone to keep him safe, is all."

"Certainly," the Four-Wing purred. He leaned down and pressed his hide against the Color-Shifter's. "For many turnings of the moons we have lived together, my Color-Shifter. This does not change that. If you wish to be at his side, that does not drive distance between us, in any way but physically."

The Color-Shifter hung his head. "No…no, my Four-Wing, I shall not leave you. Never again."

'Eret' could not understand them, but the body language and lack of eye contact must have clued him in. He shot Hiccup and myself a lost look—one that just-so-slightly seemed to be asking for help.

I ducked my head a little and turned to my brother. He met my eyes.

The spark of soul-magic flared between us—for the first time, on purpose.

Apprehension and conflicted guilt swept between the both of us. What did he expect us to do, force the Color-Shifter to live with him?

Hiccup frowned. _Maybe…_

A half-formed, _stupid_ idea flickered between us.

 _No!_ I all but groaned with exasperation. _That's crazy, even for you!_

Hiccup gave me his sly "I'm doing it anyways" look and turned away, effectively ending the conversation.

" _Hiccup!_ " I moaned.

"Eret," Hiccup said, "what do you and your men plan on doing now?"

'Eret' caught on fast. "You want _us_ to help take care of the Bewilderbeast?!" he shouted. He gestured at his nestmates behind them—all of them a mixture of humans Hiccup's age to his, all of them baffled but grinning with the same _stupid_ , eager excitement as my brother. "You think these lads can handle the responsibility? You think _I_ can?"

" _No_ ," I said. Hiccup tugged at my ear.

"Well, _you_ lived with him a long time, too," Hiccup said. "All of you did. Maybe you can help out where the dragons can't."

"And they may offer protection from humans seeking to weaponize him," Meatlug piped up.

Hiccup roughly translated, having understood enough to know what she meant. 'Eret' put a finger to his chin, glanced at his nestmates, and then faced the Color-Shifter.

"What do you say, big fella?" he asked softly. "Think you can tolerate me for a little longer?"

Meatlug offered a quick explanation. The Color-Shifter reared his head with surprise, as did the Four-Wing.

"Do you trust him, my Color-Shifter?" the Four-Wing asked. "Well and truly?"

The Color-Shifter hesitated, his tail twitching and his wings fluttering. His eyes never left the human's.

He took a wary step forward. 'Eret' brightened with a huge grin, reaching out and holding the Color-Shifter's head beneath his cheekbones.

"Well," the Color-Shifter said in a forced, casual tone. " _Somebody_ has to take care of him." He offered a small grin and leaned into his companion's touch, pressing their foreheads together. Softer now, almost as if he didn't intend anyone to hear, he murmured, "And he certainly has taken care of me."

"Then they may stay," the Four-Wing said with surprising warmth.

There was a commotion behind us, and everyone whipped back towards the human crowd.

Right on cue, the look-alikes came charging past in a wild frenzy, Barf-and-Belch frantically chasing them and begging them to stop whatever mad hell they were doing before they got hurt.

" _Only_ them," the Four-Wing clarified.

"Then that settles it!" Hiccup laughed with delight. He poked me and teased, "And you thought it was a bad idea."

" _Oh, let's just wait on that_ ," I said with a small grin. " _Who knows what they'll do._ "

'Eret' also seemed to be warming up to the idea, holding the Color-Shifter closer to him. "Well, then, if the big fella is here to stay with us, then I think he's gonna need a name." He looked deep into the confused Color-Shifter's eyes. "Don't you?"

"You realize I cannot understand you," the Color-Shifter said.

Hiccup glanced at me and struggled not to laugh at my exasperated expression. "Uh, what'll it be?" he said, pretending not to have noticed.

'Eret' put a paw on the Color-Shifter's forehead. His expression grew solemn.

"Anatoli. To carry on the memory of him."

His nestmates all sobered, lowering their heads in respect. Even I ducked my head, the mild irritation of yet _another_ dragon recklessly named whisked away.

To honor a fallen nestmate by carrying on their name…that was something that I could respect. Perhaps…perhaps it meant that this…Eret…wasn't nearly as undeserving of his own name as I'd thought.

A puff of cold air washed over us. I turned to face the young King, who was watching with curiosity but still silent—still unsure of speaking when he was not being spoken to. He smiled at me, proud that his little "blow frost at them so they notice you" tactic had worked.

"Good?" he asked. "What…this?"

I sent a look at the baffling array of caretakers we had scrounged together. The Color-Shifter—no, Anatoli and the Four-Wing stood at attention, but Eret and his nestmates had descended into elated excitement, all of them eager to move ahead and place the shadows of their past behind them. The dragons of their nest crept from the crowd, now curious about the charge they had taken under their wings.

I leaned into Hiccup and turned to the recovering young King who now finally had a life worth living.

"We've found you some friends."

 **o.O.o**

An hour or so passed. The shadow-nest disappeared onto the horizon, shattered apart so thoroughly that one could scarcely imagine it coming back together again. The floating-trees stayed.

There was a massive uptake only minutes after the young King's guardianship had been determined. The crowd of humans around us began to _cheer_ , raising their voices with joy and relief.

Hiccup and I pushed our way to the front of the crowd—and were met with the sight of a very out-of-breath, very exhausted, very proud Noodles leading a small flare to the cliffs.

Behind him were several dragons, all of them carrying human fledglings upon their backs. Among them, I noticed the Flame-Skin Rye, the brilliant orange Two-Walker that the human 'Thuggory' had named Honey, and several more dragons that 'Dogsbreath' had coaxed into pairing up with a Viking.

"Gunvor! Hemming! Noodles!" came the ecstatic cry of 'Dogsbreath' himself. He rushed forward, as did his mate, and swept them up in a bone-crushing hug. "Oh, thank Thor! I thought that…ah, to hell with it! Good job, Noodles, _very_ good job!"

"Thanks," Noodles said breathlessly, curling up against his human's shoulder. His eyes crept over to mine and Hiccup's, and a huge grin spread across his face. "My Kings…you're back…!" He closed his eyes. "When the sun came back…I knew it was you…"

The brave Little-Bitter dropped dead asleep, too worn out to carry on anymore. 'Dogsbreath' cradled him in his paws, murmuring to his fledglings and reassuring them that he was alright—just tired, is all.

The celebration was uplifting enough that it was almost hard to forget _why_ the human fledglings had been taken away. It gave everyone a second wind, reminding us of what mattered, of _why_ we had fought fang and claw throughout the night to get to where we were today, to finally see the sun reach its highest point in the sky.

In all the commotion, the human fledglings and their families were completely distracted. Distracted enough that, when a tiny human broke away from the crowd and sprinted past with a happy squeal, there was little time to react.

" _Woah!_ " Hiccup yelped, lunging for the fledgling and grabbing her just before the dumb thing ran clear off the cliff. "Careful, Gunvor!"

"I wanna see!" she whined. She pointed a tiny, pudgy claw out at the destroyed bay. "Look, look!"

By then, her mother had rushed from the crowd to help Hiccup wrangle her. She followed her daughter's gaze and gasped.

I glanced out at the bay, lifted an unimpressed eyebrow at the floating-trees below, and turned back to Hiccup...only to tilt my head at seeing that _he_ was surprised, too. " _Wait, what is it?_ "

" _Look_ ," he clucked with a muffled, surprised overtone. He pointed down to one of the floating-trees. "It's got a white flag…"

Now that I actually knew what to look for, I did notice that one floating-tree now displayed a large, white fur that hung limp in the wind. Honestly, it wasn't _that_ impressive. If that was what they were going for, they should have made it a more noteworthy color. " _And that means…?_ "

More humans began to notice, all of them taking on the same confused, alarmed, almost hopeful expression that Hiccup had. I shot a look at the King, who seemed to be the only one who shared my suspicion. He took his looking-object, fiddled around with it, and stiffened.

"The Chieftains have gathered on that ship," he said—and anything else he said was drowned out in a surprised uproar. Some Vikings cried out with amazement, and others demanded that we force them to leave anyways.

"Let's kick them out!" Snotlout was quick to join in the latter. "Let them sit and think about what they did!"

"Uh, _no_ ," Astrid piped up, giving him a rough shove. "We have to deal with this _eventually._ "

Alright, now I was just frustrated at being the only one who didn't quite understand this. " _Hiccup?_ " I pressed, poking him in the side. " _Care to explain?_ "

" _It means they want to talk_ ," Hiccup breathed, straightening up and taking a step too close for comfort to the cliff's edge. " _And maybe...maybe they'll listen._ "

I snorted. _Our_ humans would listen...but why would these ones? " _What, will they help clean up_ their _mess?_ "

"We have to try," Hiccup said. "Especially now, when they actually _want_ to talk."

The King seemed to share my perspective. "I wouldn't count on that, son," he heaved. "But Astrid is right."

" _Alright, then_ ," I said. A grin slid across my maw. "Let's have ourselves a little talk...on _our_ terms."

All it took was a leading call to our nestmates—both human and dragon.

Hiccup pressed close to me, and I leapt off the cliff, swooped around the young King, and dove towards the floating-tree. On our right were Astrid, the King, and Stormfly. On our left were Snotlout and Hookfang, 'Fishlegs' and Meatlug, the two look-alikes and Barf-and-Belch.

Behind us, dozens of our nestmates swarmed down the cliffsides, some of them carrying Vikings themselves…the very Vikings who had saved them from the song. The grand majority of the invading humans cringed away, eyes wide as our superior force advanced on them.

Even from below, I could make out a form shifting in the waters: the Deep-Swimmer, lingering just below the floating-trees, readied to strike as necessary. Her golden eyes glimmered beneath the water, mischievous and excited. Despite her history of impulsiveness, it was comforting to see her flanking us from below, just in case.

Hiccup and I landed on the floating-tree, quickly followed by Stormfly, the King, and Astrid. There, easily six or seven Viking Kings and Queens stood. I recognized 'Bertha' among them. Their eyes widened as our nestmates blotted out the skies above, as human and dragon alike made it clear that this was _our_ home, _our_ territory, and _our_ advantage in a fight.

"What are your offerings?" our King demanded, leaping to the ground beside me. "Why are you still here?"

A couple of our nestmates flew overhead—the fledglings, having finally returned to us, whirling happily amongst the floating-trees. They had already gone back to their old mischievousness, stealing whatever objects they could find. The humans looked up at them not with hatred, but interest, which was enough to give me pause.

One of the fledglings, lagging far behind the others, caught my eye.

"Oh, Dragoness of the Moon!" I gasped with joy.

With a scar on her leg and a frightened carefulness to her movements, she was all too recognizable: the lost Hum-Wing fledgling that Hiccup had rescued. She spotted us and broke out into a gleeful sprint, ecstatic to see her Kings again. She panted heavily as she flew towards us, rapidly losing altitude.

By the time I realized that she was too exhausted to fly any longer, she fell directly above the intruding Vikings.

'Bertha' leapt forward and caught the poor thing in her paws. I crouched low, whipped my tail, and snarled. Even Hiccup tensed on my shoulders, although he managed to keep his growl too quiet to hear.

"Oh, calm down!" 'Bertha' groused. "This is why we're still here in tha first place!"

I cut myself off short. Exchanging a look between Hiccup and the King, I straightened out somewhat. Still, I commanded her, " _Give her to us!_ "

Hiccup was much more… _diplomatic_. "That's great, then," he said, sliding off of my shoulders and approaching the the humans. "Now—"

The Kings and Queens all tensed like he was thrice his size and charging them, fear-scent filling the floating-tree. Many paws crept towards weapons—and a long, steady hiss from me was enough for them to abandon _that_ idea.

"It's—it's okay," Hiccup soothed them, a little surprised at their reaction to him. He held his paws out to the fledgling. She squirmed in the human Queen's grasp, shooting confused looks up at her, Hiccup, and myself. "I just want to take her off your hands."

The human Queen held the fledgling out. Hiccup took her up in his arms, winced as an old wound flared up, and retreated back to us.

"Is she hurt?!" Stormfly worried, stooping to sniff her. "I'll—I'll take her to an elder! Get her fixed like the nice Little-Biter did to me!"

"Are they okay?" Astrid whispered at the same time. She glanced at her old scar on her arm and ventured, "Hungry again?"

"That and much more," Hiccup sighed. He pointed his nose at the fledgling's wound, which had still not yet healed. "Can you two take her?"

Astrid nodded reluctantly. She reached down, bundled the fledgling in her paws, and gave Stormfly a pat. The yearling took off with startling speed, flying through the air as if _her_ life depended on it. We watched them go for a moment before turning back to the matters at wing.

"Thank you," Hiccup said to the human Queen. "You didn't have to catch her."

"It was nothin'," she said, flapping a paw. "But I was serious. Berk would be nothin' but a pile of ash if it weren't fer yer dragons."

"Hell, the _world_ would be a pile of ash!" an older human King said.

The human Queen 'Bertha' nodded. She gestured with her paw far out over the nest of floating-trees, still riddled with our nestmates and the old King's nestmates alike. "These dragons aren't attackin' us now," she said. "Is that yer doin'? Did ya tell 'em ta stand down?"

"No," he all but ground out, just as sick of _that_ illogical accusation as myself. More wearily, with his brows drown together, he clarified, "They're just grateful that some of the people on your ships saved them…that's all."

The Kings and Queens looked uncertain, fleeting glances cast between each other, myself and Hiccup, and our nestmates hovering in wait above.

"Dragon-boy," the human Queen began. She stopped, sighed, and then met his eye. "Can you…do fer us, what ya did fer yer village?"

Hiccup, the King, and I all shared a baffled look amongst ourselves.

"W-what do you mean?" he stammered.

"Now, hold on," the King interrupted. "I'll not have you trying to cart him off from village to village to fix your problems." He narrowed his eyes and growled, "Again."

Miraculously, the Kings and Queens had enough grace to look down in shame.

"All of you owe Berk much more than a white flag and an apology," the King fumed. "You've leveled our village to the ground. Countless people are lost. Even more are homeless and wounded, and the same goes for our dragons. And that's without even mentioning the war hunt you all set out on for my son!"

As he spoke, Hiccup grimaced and his shoulders drooped. His eyes flashed with the very same hurt and anger that I saw in his father—but also with much more confliction. There was exhaustion there, too, and that old, _stupid_ , stubborn hope. I held closer to him, unable to offer little more than wrapping my tail around him and giving a purr. For what good it would do, I layered it with a supportive overtone, even though I would far rather follow the King's path and send these cowards running.

One of the human Kings sighed. "What's yer terms, then? How do we make it up to you, Stoick?"

"Get off of my island," the King hissed. "And never come back as you did today, unless you want to suffer _another_ defeat."

I snarled for all I was worth, showing all of my teeth and flaring my wings. Our nestmates hovering above echoed me. The humans recoiled as they damn well should.

At my side, Hiccup hung his head and let out a heavy sigh.

"Wait," he said in a quiet, yet firm voice.

"Hiccup—" the King began.

"Just—just let me try something," Hiccup pleaded.

He held his father's gaze. The King glanced at me and relented, huffing and gesturing in a "go ahead" motion.

My brother turned to the Kings and Queens who had attacked our home and sought his death. Despite it all, he straightened up, brushing away his exhaustion and taking on a confident, firm tone. "We can help you," he said, "but only if you're willing to listen to us. Only if you can see dragons not as tools, but as intelligent beings that deserve respect. That means no cages. No trapping." He narrowed his eyes. "No forcing them to do what you want."

"And then they will protect us?" a human Queen asked hopefully.

I snorted, throwing my head. This was 'Dogsbreath' all over again.

Although…

Glancing through the crowd above us, I scoured our nestmates bearing humans and— _there._ He was with his mate, resting uneasily on the young, tan Flame-Skin that had caught Hiccup all those weeks ago when I'd accidentally knocked him off a wood-cave.

"You!" I shouted to them. The poor Flame-Skin lurched to attention. "Come over here, please!"

The Flame-Skin did as he was told, landing uneasily on the deck behind us and curling up as small as he could. "W-what should I do, my Kings? I...I just met these two, I don't really know what to do."

Hiccup caught on the moment he saw 'Dogsbreath'. "See, that's what a lot of people think when they realize dragons don't want to fight them," he said. He beckoned one incredibly confused 'Dogsbreath' and went on, "The first thing their minds go to is whether or not they can _use_ dragons as a resource."

'Dogsbreath' raised a brow at us, shrugged at his mate, and leapt to the ground. He sauntered up to the King's side and crossed his paws over his chest.

"What?" he grunted. "They thinkin' they can just use dragons fer protection?" He sent a hard stare into the crowd of submissive Kings and Queens. "Yeah, I used ta think tha same...and learned right quick how foolish that was. The beasts wouldn't even humor ya. Ya see, I've spoken ta many of you over the years. Even in darker times, I always respected ya as true Vikings, proud and strong. That is…until now, when ya let yerselves become the muscle of a madman."

"Dogsbreath," the King said in a warning tone.

'Dogsbreath' lifted a paw complacently. "My dragon has more honor than tha lot 'a you," he growled. "He protects my children day and night, always staying by their side. He's with 'em right now, keepin' 'em safe." Baring his teeth almost as if to snarl, he spat out with venom, "And if it weren't fer him, they might'a been killed in _your_ attack."

I hissed once again. Our nestmates joined in, soft echoes filling the space around us like furious phantoms.

"Tha other dragons are just like him," 'Dogsbreath' went on. "They won't tolerate cowardice. They won't tolerate ya tryin' ta chain them up to do yer bidding."

"Alright, alright!" the human Queen said, rubbing at her temples. "We get yer point." She crossed her paws over her chest and said to Hiccup, "If it means my village can one day be like yers, then I'm willin'."

"As am I," said the older human King from before.

"And myself," said another human Queen.

"Well, I am not," a younger male growled. "I just want to keep these damn things from invadin' my island."

One by one, each King and Queen raised their voice. Some of them refused—simply asking for all of us to leave each other alone. Others agreed to try to put their dragon-hunting ways behind them...to work towards peace between both kinds, now that they had witnessed the far reaches of Berk's accomplishments.

Our King took over, negotiating in a long, drawn-out debate with them on our terms. _We_ would be making journeys to their nests—there would be none of this "show up whenever you feel like it and demand help" nonsense.

By the end of the rather painfully-long politics, however…despite it all, despite my own disbelief...

A hesitant truce was formed, in which Berk would rise as an example to the other human nests, showing them that the impossible was not so. For the first time in remembered history, humans and dragons would work _together_.

With that came its only natural outcome.

"While all this is well and good, if Berk's dragons stay here and the wild ones fly off, how do'ya expect anythin' to happen?" the human Queen 'Bertha' eventually asked us, both frustrated and uncertain.

I understood almost immediately. Hiccup looked at me, and I saw the same sad, wary recognition in his eyes.

"Well…" he began. He hesitated, his shoulders drooping, and then steeled himself. "The only way to learn to live together is...well, to _live_ together."

"...oh. Right," 'Bertha' stammered, clearly just as reluctant. Yet despite her apprehension, she went on, "And how...do ya suggest that?"

Hiccup turned to me, waiting for my confirmation—for me to make this decision with him as well.

It was with a heavy heart that I lifted my head to the nest of dragons guarding us above and translated, "For there to be peace between human and dragon, then…"

It was almost too horrible to bear saying.

" _Is anyone up for a mission?_ " Hiccup asked. He seemed to be trying for an open, unpressured overtone, but it wavered too much for me to be certain.

Despite that, the change in our nestmates was almost immediate. To my shock, many of them _brightened_ , clamoring amongst themselves. It was only after I had heard the name "Noodles" mentioned several times that I understood; his success with his humans had emboldened them, making them eager to take on a mission of their own from their Kings.

"I'll do it!" cried the excitable young Flame-Skin. "I can do it just as good as him!"

"Then _I'm_ going with him," the Two-Walker from our original flare said worriedly, shooting him a knowing look.

"I, too, shall take on my own!" cried the middle-aged Hum-Wing who had been the only one to challenge me during Hiccup's absence, and all for the good of our nest. "If not to serve my Kings, but also to prevent a war such as this from ever happening again!"

With each volunteer, my hopes rose—and my heart sank. After weeks of our nestmates being separated, lost and stolen, we were _finally_ together...and now, we were separating all over again. I almost put my paw down and stopped it right then and there, trying to demand some other way around it.

But part of being King was being able to change. It meant I had to make decisions for the good of the nest, and not myself. It was a lesson hard-learned from my reckless actions when Hiccup had been stolen from us. Despite the sting of pain, I had to put my trust in others and be more willing to see the good in them—not desperately try to control everything around me.

I held my tongue, trying to convince myself it was the right thing to do.

Hiccup and I granted them permission—even though it had been _us_ asking—and just like that, dragons dropped from the sky and perched on the floating-trees, puffed up and eager and proud to be serving their own mission. Many of the humans squawked and scrambled in mixtures of surprise, excitement, and protest, and it took several minutes before all the dragons had been organized onto the _right_ floating-trees.

Roughly a fourth of our nest had offered their service—and even a few dragons from the old King's nest. Each Viking village that wanted change would have a few guardians on their islands now, far off in that vast, relentless ocean...

As I watched them, my ears and frills drooping, my heart hammering at the idea that soon they would leave this bay where I would not see them, Hiccup pressed his shoulder to mine.

" _It is fine_ ," he said with a soothing overtone, almost getting it perfect this time.

I took a deep breath.

I had to let go.

" _It is fine_ ," I said.

With one last reassuring purr, my brother straightened upright and stepped confidently towards the Kings and Queens surrounding us, his eyes alight with determination. "Here's what you need to know about us," he said, "so that you can live together peacefully."

He spoke to them of our culture and customs, even going so far as to touch on the gods. He told them what had caused problems in Berk—and the steps we had taken to stop them, and that they had to take to prevent them. He emphasized over and over the autonomy and intelligence of our kind, of dragons not as simple working pets and guards, but as creatures just as deserving of respect as the Vikings. He made _explicitly_ sure to emphasize that we would be regularly sending out scouting missions to check up on our nestmates, and while it was not a threat, its implications clearly were not lost on the human Kings and Queens.

Above all, Hiccup spoke...and they listened.

They asked questions—not from anger or defensiveness, but curiosity. They asked for advice in the event of imaginary scenarios. Even those reluctant to make peace spoke up once or twice.

The sun had traveled through the sky quite a bit by the time it was all over. the Viking Kings and Queens offered their final, useless condolences. With nothing left to say to them and plenty of unfulfilled promises to upkeep, we left them in our ruined docks, returning to the skies, to Berk—to _home_ waiting above.

It was so strange to land on those cliffs and to feel hope.

I glanced up at my brother almost as if to ask him if this was real, if we were making the right decision by letting our nestmates go with them to build a better world. The floating-trees were still there; we really _could_ stop them if we wanted to. They were only just leaving, after all...even the Deep-Swimmer could still be spotted in our bay.

Hiccup beamed, vibrating with a deep purr.

" _We did it_ ," he whispered, still in slight disbelief. " _It's over._ "

" _It is_ ," I said. Then it hit me. " _It...it really is...and all thanks to you._ "

" _And you, too, stupid_ ," he said with a playful overtone. He buried his head into my neck and wrapped his paws around my neck. " _Thank you, Toothless._ "

I pressed my head up against him to return the hug. " _For what?_ "

" _For everything._ "


	34. Chapter 30

**Hello, everyone!**

 **One last not-so-subtle reminder:** **Sphere's backstory is shown in Unheard Whispers, specifically the "What Was Hidden" chapters. ****I strongly recommend checking those out! Also, this is much more random, but there is a link to an IHHS animatic I made on my bio page titled "Screams and Songs". I think I've never mentioned it here before...better late than never I guess?**

 **With all that being said, I want to sincerely thank** **Samateus-Taal, NightShadow9558, CrisDLZ, Siganna, HawkTooth, ObiBen213, SuperFan, Alexisminas, xxjacksionxx, TheWhisperingWarrior, VigoGrimborne, Flopy, FyrandTheGryffinclaw, Varghul, Tista2018, Crysist, and all anonymous reviewers for your kind reviews for the last chapter! I also want to thank my beta Crysist for working on this with me super late!**

 **So, here we are...there is one more chapter after this. I won't keep you waiting any longer...enjoy, and have a wonderful day!**

* * *

 **Chapter 30**

Hiccup

"Saviors."

Something snapped into place around us.

Toothless and I leapt to our feet with shouts—or, in Toothless' case, curses. The both of us whipped around in a tight circle, caught between sticking close to each other and trying to get our bearings straight.

We were…we were…I couldn't even begin todescribe the environment we found ourselves in. We were in the relative position of "here", whatever _that_ was. With every attempt to grasp at thoughts or descriptions to comprehend it, the words slipped between my fingers.

"What…where…?" I stammered.

Toothless suddenly stiffened at my side, his ears sticking straight up and his limbs splayed out in awkward positions. He launched himself down, throwing his wings out in a frantic, rushed bow. Without a second thought, I was on the ground, too, spreading my wings out exactly like a Flame-Skin would.

A lighthearted chuckle. "No, Saviors…"

Toothless and I glanced at each other, our heads still bowed, and inched our gazes up.

My breath rushed out of me. At my side, Toothless couldn't hold back a stifled, thin gasp.

Kneeling before us, incomprehensible and almighty and divine, Their forms just flickering at our mortal imagination, were the Dragon of the Sun and Dragoness of the Moon Themselves.

And _They_ were bowing to _us._

" _M-my King, my Queen,"_ Toothless stuttered, " _you…you shouldn't…_ "

He didn't dare finish trying to tell the _gods_ what to do.

Just as we had moments ago, the two holy beings shared a look with bowed heads and straightened Themselves far, far above us. Even the simple act of standing up left me breathless, awed by the sheer _power_ and _purpose_ They radiated with every slight movement.

Their eyes met mine. I froze, struck by the depths within Them, locked into place as my whole being was left open to scrutiny.

It struck me that I couldn't remember how we got here. My mouth went dry and a shudder passed through me. "Are we…dead?" I said.

The Dragoness of the Moon chuckled. "By the heavens, no. Fear not, my little one."

"The circumstances of this meeting are not so dire as the last," Her counterpart finished. "Rise, Saviors, for you have earned the honor at least twice over."

We did as we were told, sending wide-eyed looks to each other.

" _Then…why…?_ " Toothless murmured, bowing his head and flicking his eyes up at them every few seconds.

The loving, warm tone of Her voice turned sharp and cold, and I would have curled up on the ground and accepted my fate right then and there if it hadn't been directed at me.

"Sphere. Explain yourself."

And there he was—the little, pine-brown creature made of fog lying between us and Them.

Giving a weak groan, he collected his feet beneath him. With slow, lethargic movements, he blinked and cast his eyes around. The first thing he seemed to notice was his own body, to which he only gave a small, tired sigh. Then, several seconds later, he finally noticed Them. A horrified yelp echoed around the space we were in as he collapsed into a bow.

The Dragon of the Sun and Dragoness of the Moon stood passively, patiently. They didn't have to move an inch or breathe a word. The sheer weight of Their judgement was tangible, raining down upon him in an endless cascade.

"I…" Sphere said, and the clarity in his voice surprised me enough that I almost didn't hear what he said. "I…have not been myself."

"Such is apparent to all who possess the slightest capacity for thought," the Dragoness of the Moon said, Her words raining both Her indifference and tightly-contained fury.

Again, a chill crept down my spine. Toothless pressed closer to me and lowered his head and wings more, just as intimidated as I was.

Sphere closed his eyes, burrowing his forehead between his paws and exposing his neck for an easy strike. "I know…I know…" he croaked. "It is no excuse. I became a monster…and a monster's end I face."

Despite the shock and the adrenaline burning through my heart, I couldn't help but frown at that.

"Savior."

The Dragon of the Sun _almost_ seemed to smile when I leapt nearly my full height into the air. "You and your brother are not witness to this as an audience. As Our only other chosen wielders of soul-magic, and as Saviors to Ourselves as well, your word here holds weight." He narrowed His eyes ever-so-slightly at Sphere, and the simple act of it was more terrifying than anything I had ever seen. "Such is the reason he still exists within our reaches."

"Do not hold your tongue," the Dragoness of the Moon suggested in a very-not-suggesting tone.

Toothless outright gawked at them, astounded by the idea. He managed to compose himself fast enough, shot me a dumbfounded look, and then focused on Sphere. " _How did you do it? How did you become…this?_ "

Sphere looked at us from the corner of his eye, still unwilling to rise from his bow. "It's an incredibly lengthy explanation," he said. "Forgive me for that."

"Rest assured, you have already tested Our patience," the Dragon of the Sun growled, sending my heart thundering. "A few moments more is nothing."

Sphere grimaced, making himself as small as possible. He took a moment to collect his thoughts.

"At first...all I remember are shadows," he began in a low hush. "Even as time passed with her, they would plague my sleep, leaving me uneasy in the day and lacking confidence and persistence when we argued. I realize now that it made me all the more susceptible to when it finally happened…night by night, more of me was poisoned by that touch." He crumpled where he lied as if a massive force had suddenly crushed him. "And as that poison worked by night, I worked by day with my soul-magic, consuming my own being while caught up in a fantasy fed to me by the very shadows I did not know yet to fear."

Toothless and I threw each other confused looks—who was "her"?—but Sphere kept going.

"Nevertheless, even with my mind molded as it was, that is no excuse. For how useless it is now, I feel regret as intensely as I do despair." He fell silent a moment, seemingly lost in thought. It took several long, uncomfortable moments for him to whisper, "Even in defeat, taken up under Your wing, my Queen…the shadows ravaged through my mind, filling the empty space within me that my abused soul-magic had shorn away. I brooded within it, letting it consume me until nothing remained, and…and…" He peeked up at Them and quickly looked away. "I used the malice within me to break free of You."

He shivered in what I could only imagine was fear, and maybe even horror at what he'd done. "Too late, I realized that even that would not do. I had no body, and only a vacuum of an empty soul left to speak for. But...I had anticipated as such, and had broken free just where it happened...where You had reached down into the world to grant them soul-magic.

"Once free, I raced beneath the waters where You could not see me. By then, the battle had long since been won, and she was...she was…" He shuddered. "For all the horrors she inflicted upon me, it was—it still _is_ a strike to my heart, to have seen her like that, broken and twisted and deteriorating beneath the waves. She was nothing more than a passing meal for shoals of insignificant fish. I had festered within that corruption for far too long, and it was that one last wound that left me resolved. Nothing would matter if I did not succeed, not after all the pain I had endured, not after the agony of seeing a loved one turned to worthless carrion."

His eyes seemed unfocused, peering deep into the past. His voice became soft, distant, lost to time. "I knew through You that she had stolen his magic _._ Perhaps, it was still there...perhaps, that included soul-magic."

My heart dropped. My breath hitched as if all the air had been ripped from my lungs.

I knew what the rest of his story would be.

"I was right," Sphere said with a humorless chuckle. "Of course, I was right—but not in the way that I expected to be. The prize I sought was not there. For while that stolen magic remained, still clinging to life as its original master was, there was no soul-magic...and just like her, what had survived the passage of time was withering away. Deteriorating. Rotting in the murky depths like a corpse. And fate so foretold it that it was only _after_ I had found it and taken it up within myself that this became all too clear."

He closed his eyes, his shoulders hunched, his wings limp at his sides. "The dying magic was meant to give me a new birth, yet it only intensified the shadows within me, stifling what little of myself remained. It offered a form, but a broken one—something lingering on the world's edge like a restless spirit. All that was left of me was the vague shape of what the magic once was...a small, pine-brown Shadow-Blender…"

Toothless seemed unable to rip his eyes from Sphere, but he still curled closer and wrapped a wing around me. I took in a shaky breath and pressed my side against his, finding it impossible to look away myself.

Sphere paused, opening his eyes and risking a mournful look at us from the corner of his eye, clearly all too aware of the weight of his words. He let out a long, weary sigh.

"Madness quickly overtook me. I was left rife with suffering and fear and anger. Once I could get my bearings, I tried to flee the oceans, flying directly where You could see me...and You rightfully struck me down." He gave a sad shake of his head. "And it was through that punishment, wallowing beneath the waves, that I learned that my form was not all that remained of the magic. Mental magic, which can so be used by the wicked to control others, was its core.

"I gradually became aware of it within me and sought ways to utilize it, if only so I could quell the terror and sorrow that haunted me day by day. I discovered that the very methods great Kings and Queens have used for physical magic could also be used to mold mental magic. Through sound, I achieved a power far more potent and terrible than any normal dragon could achieve. I developed the song...learned how to wrap it around a dragon's soul and stifle them, if only to feel just a bit more safe…"

I didn't realize that my legs were rattling until he finally turned around to looked directly at us. My heart hammered in my chest. This whole time...this whole time, he really _had_ been…

"I'm so, so deeply _sorry_ ," Sphere whimpered. His words began to tremble with sorrow, "I-I'm _so_ sorry, for—for taking what was not mine, for mocking you with this relentless reminder." He turned away as a small sob escaped him. His tiny form began to shake, and he heaved to the gods, "How I _wish_ that You would have killed me! To stop this torment, not only for myself, but for the hundreds I have poisoned with my touch!"

The gods remained stony and silent, as impassive as the ocean bearing down on a sinking ship.

" _Why…_ didn't _You kill him?_ " I found the courage to speak up.

They turned Their attention to me, and I almost instantly regretted asking.

"Divine as We are, there are certain ways that reality must be shaped," the Dragoness of the Moon said. "We cannot make what We desire come to be with a simple flicker of thought." She glanced at the Dragon of the Sun and said almost teasingly, "Or with brute strength."

The Dragon of the Sun stared down, _down_ onto Sphere, who composed himself and curled up into a little ball. "But that does not mean We are devoid of the darker parts of all creation. Spitefulness comes to mind, something I Myself have been quick to partake in. For how hard you fought to break from Us, We could not prevent it. But in return for your freedom, We laid a price upon you.

"For a creature that so desired love, your body would be but of shallow mists, and you would never feel another's touch but for pain. For a creature that so desired the comfort and safety of warmth, your entire being would be consumed by ice. For a creature that so desired freedom, you would be locked away beneath the ocean, where you would always feel its crushing weight upon you, and you would never know the freedom of the winds. Through this, We believed you effectively banished, unable to do anything more than waste away into nothingness, just as your stolen magic had been."

"And rightly so," Sphere croaked, his voice scarcely over a whisper.

"Ah…but that is not true," the Dragoness of the Moon said. "For in cursing you beyond Our sights, you were able to slip past Us. We did not anticipate your song, nor your effective use of it. When it became clear that you were the source, it was far too late. You were hidden beneath the ocean, shielded from Our intervention. We knew We could not directly intervene...and that in Our stead, We had hope in Our Saviors to take Our place." She placed a paw upon Her divine form, and even I could see the slightest imperfection, the wound Sphere had left behind on Her.

Just besides it was another scar—a newer one. With a jolt, I realized that the Dragon of the Sun had one as well.

"And for Our mistakes, We justly earned Our punishment."

"No!" Sphere snapped, lifting his head and meeting Their stares for the first time. "You do not bear responsibility! The fault is mine—for trusting her, for allowing her to corrupt me, for corrupting _myself!_ "

"Experience surely has shown you that the world is not so easily shaped within your own two paws," the Dragon of the Sun rumbled. "Very scarcely is there a singular entity that causes something to come to be. You had your part within this series of tragedies…as did We."

"I bear the weight of this," Sphere argued. " _I_ am the monster. _I_ am the one deserving of Your torment and fury." He lowered his head. "I am even worse than her."

Toothless nodded besides me in an appreciative matter—he accepted that Sphere was, at least, letting everyone bear down on him with endless judgement and cold fury.

But _I_ wouldn't.

" _No_ ," I said. I winced as They turned to me. Steeling myself, I stepped forward and closed the gap between us and Sphere, Toothless flanking my side. "He didn't _deserve_ the cruelest punishment you can imagine. He didn't deserve becoming nothing more than this...scared, hurting _thing._ He...he didn't deserve being consumed by my…" I swallowed, fighting down guilt and sorrow. "...my messed-up magic." Meeting Their eyes, I said, "He needed help, not _scorn._ "

Sphere turned those bright, expressive eyes on me. "Your capacity for empathy is astounding…and rightfully earns you your name, Savior." He ducked his head in a bow. "But I am undeserving of it. I am ready…even if I must join the ranks of monsters like her."

" _Who?_ " Toothless asked, echoing my own confusion. I had a horrible suspicion, but...

"You came to know her as the Queen," the Dragoness of the Moon said in a soft, gentle voice.

My brother and I stiffened. Sphere gave a hoarse, humorless laugh.

"Well. It seems you and I fear the very same shadow after all," he chuckled. "She was my student…and the last dragon to betray me. The last dragon to test the strengths of my spirit, snapping it like a brittle twig with a final invasion of my mind." He shook his head. "I was weak. Far weaker than I cared to admit. Had I possessed even the smallest fraction of your own strength, then perhaps we would have never found ourselves here today."

I took a deep breath. "That's the thing, Sphere. It took me _time_ to find my strength…to really, truly start working to get better. I was a lot like you, I—I'm _still_ a lot like you." I reached towards Toothless, and he wrapped his wing around me. "I had to work hard at it. I _still_ have to, every day. And without Toothless, I would have never gotten to the point I am today."

" _Hiccup_ …" Toothless murmured, pressing his cheek against mine. I returned the gesture.

"Oh, Savior…" Sphere sighed, shaking his head. "Perhaps I may teach one last lesson…that there are some who are beyond saving."

"Maybe," I said, setting my jaw. "But I don't think you're one of them. You showed me even when you got soulfire. You saved me when I was going to get hurt. And you _chose_ to give up soulfire. There must be some good left in you."

He shook his head again, his eyes downcast. "I am unworthy of such kind words." He glanced at me, eyes lost and jaded, and turned to the silent gods. "What is to be done from here?"

"Rise, Sphere," They said.

He blinked and gathered his feet beneath him. Although he tucked his wings in and rose to his full height, his head and tail remained low, his eyes only resting on either god for a few seconds at a time.

"As much as you desire, We do not hate you," the Dragoness of the Moon said. "For We gifted with you the knowledge of soul-magic, and thus the role it played in your downfall into madness is Our responsibility."

"No—" Sphere began.

"However," the Dragon of the Sun went on. "As pleasing as it is that you have regained a proper sense of honor, it does not erase your actions, as you yourself have stated."

"What shall be done, you ask?" the Dragoness of the Moon mused. To me and Toothless, She inquired, "Have you suggestions?"

I glanced at Toothless with wide eyes. The spark—our link made of soul-magic—flashed between us. In Toothless, I found solemn acceptance, along with a grim humor at my own empathy towards Sphere. In me, he found my stubborn persistence that we could somehow still help. We _had_ to, when we could.

My brother was a _lot_ more than exasperated at what I wanted, but he could grudgingly understand my point. Reluctance twinged between us, rising from fear of something going wrong again...but the alternative, to _choose_ not to finally put an end to this when we could, to leave this place with wounds left open and festering, was too much of a risk. With a roll of his eyes, he nodded.

"We don't want to punish him," I said.

" _We want him to heal_ ," Toothless said, resolved. With a small smile, he said with quite a bit of irony, " _We must move forward._ "

We both turned to Sphere. He met our stare.

"Perhaps…" he mumbled. "Perhaps…yes…yes." He straightened to his full height, and to the divine beings bearing judgement down on him, he begged, "Take all I have…take what magic is left in me, what essence I am, take my very soul…" He turned to me and offered a small, sad smile. "…and return him to his proper form."

Toothless and I froze.

"Erase me from all of existence if need be. Destroy my name and all knowledge that I ever was. Rip what's left of my soul and let it be used for something worthwhile, for once in my life. There is no price too steep to pay." Twisting back towards Them, he bowed once more. "I beg of You, knowing full well the irony of my own words…I beg that You listen."

The Dragon of the Sun and Dragoness of the Moon turned Their all-knowing eyes onto us.

They said nothing.

"I-I…" I spluttered, only for the words to catch in my throat. At a complete loss, I sent Toothless a conflicted, pleading look that he, of course, had no answer to. "I…"

My heart hammered in my chest. My throat thickened. My hands and legs shook. I met Sphere's determined, aurora-filled eyes. Spikes of nervous energy zipped through me, each one sending almost-painful shudders rattling through my limbs.

"…see?" I croaked. "I knew you had some good in you."

His face fell with shock. "But…I have felt your own pain as my own. It is all you have ever wanted."

"I know," I said, unable to keep the quiver out of my voice. "But…I've learned that this is more than that." Putting a hand on my chest, I said, " _I'm_ more than that. These past few months…I've just been fighting myself, constantly _hating_ myself. It's taken me so long to realize that this isn't _wrong_ , that I…that I'm worth something like this. That being like this isn't some horrible fate worse than death, but just…me."

" _Hiccup_ …" Toothless murmured, breathless with shock. " _Your father…I want you to know this, and—and I'm_ so sorry _for holding this back until now, but…he wants this, too._ "

The truth behind his words—however he had ever learned it—rocked my resolve. I took in a deep, shuddering breath, struggling to compose my thoughts.

Dad wanted it...too…? But... _Dad_...

"A-all this time," I began, "I've always been trying to feel…whole. To feel like _me_ , and not something empty and broken." Holding close to my brother, I stammered, "And I think…I think I'm finally getting there. I really do." Wiping at my eyes before the tears fell, I turned back to Sphere and our gods. "Thank you, Sphere," I said. "You're right that it is what I want."

I thought of Dad. Of Berk and its growing bonds between dragons and humans. Of the other Viking tribes who were willing to _work_ for peace, even so much as agreeing to dragons living on their islands.

"But there are other things I want, too," I said, looking down at my hands. "And if that time comes… _when_ that time comes…I think that I would be okay." I looked up at everyone and smiled, and although it was small and shaking and didn't quite reach my eyes, it was real. "I think that I would be happy."

Toothless leaned hard into me, curling his tail around me. " _And that is all I want, too_ ," he murmured. " _If you want this, then I want this._ "

I wrapped my arms around him and buried my face into the crook of his neck.

Sphere ducked his head in acceptance.

The Dragoness of the Moon finally stepped from Her place, and so did the Dragon of the Sun. As They did, Their forms shifted—suddenly, instead of the grand behemoths before us, They were the size of adult dragons, although anything beyond that was still beyond my comprehension.

The Dragoness of the Moon leaned down to Sphere. He clenched his eyes shut, bracing himself.

She pressed a delicate muzzle to his forehead. The fog dissipated, flying off of him and swirling into nothingness above him.

For the first time, we well and truly saw Sphere—the _real_ Sphere. His eyes snapped open with shock, and he gaped down at himself. With eyes welling with grief and joy, he looked up at Her and croaked, "…why?"

She merely offered a small grin and turned away, towards…me.

I held still as She pressed Her snout against my forehead, closing my eyes and leaning into Her touch. It was warm and soothing, sending waves of calm throughout my body. Aches and pains that I had grown accustomed to disappeared, leaving me wondering how I had even been able to stand.

At Her side, the Dragon of the Sun stooped over to do the same to Toothless. The two gods shared a knowing look with each other.

"Well done, Saviors," They said. As one, They turned away, beckoning all three of us with Their wings as if we were Their hatchlings. "Come along..."

My legs were still shaking. The shadow within me _screamed_ to stop Them, to tell Them that I had changed my mind. It seemed to snake into reality, wrapping coils around my legs and trapping me where I stood.

I held Toothless close to me, feeling the steadiness of his heartbeat. I thought of Dad.

With them, I didn't feel so empty anymore.

With them, I felt hope. Hope for me. Hope for a better Berk.

With a shuddering breath, I stepped forward.

 **o.O.o**

I blinked, and we were back.

For the second time, Toothless and I scrambled to our feet in a confused panic. It was much easier to piece everything together than last time.

We had been ghosted back home, onto the lonely cliff overseeing all of Berk and its bay, the young King still nestled within it. The village, already being rebuilt, stretched out before us—which came as a shock, considering that Toothless, Dad, and I had fallen asleep at our house after a long day of work.

The moment my heart and thoughts settled, I noticed it.

This time, I did collapse to my knees, clutching my hands to my chest, curling my fingers into the fabric of my wingsuit, heaving and shuddering violently as bewildered tears trailed freely down my cheeks. Toothless rushed to help me stay upright, sniffing me all over for injuries, holding me close, even licking me a few times, murmuring all the while with love and acceptance _it is fine, it is fine, it is fine._

My eyes stayed locked on the heavens. The sun was halfway risen, half of it just peeking over the ocean. Far, far across the horizon, the moon accompanied it, split halfway by the waters as it sank back into its place.

It took me several minutes to get ahold of myself and tell an absolutely terrified Toothless that he was right.

As I did, hiccupping and stumbling over my words, caught between human and dragon tongue as I struggled to wrap my brain around the sudden lack of emptiness within me, the baffling brightness within that shell of magic, I could have sworn I heard a voice, warm with love and pride, drift along the wind.

… _for when that time comes…_


	35. Epilogue

**Hello, everyone!**

 **So...here it is. Despite countless hours of staring and staring and staring at this chapter, it still hasn't quite sunken in yet. Ironically enough, I don't want to let go. Such is life!**

 **I want to thank SuperFan, xxjacksionxx, Samateus-Taal, Surprise Crayfish, CrisDLZ, HawkTooth, ObiBen213, FyrandTheGryffinclaw, Penelope Valentine, Varghul, Flopy, TheWhisperingWarrior, TheFuriousNightFury, Alexisminas, NightShadow9558, mytimezoneiscptsd, Sahqovulon, LlamaQueen666, Crysist, and all anonymous reviewers for their wonderful, thoughtful reviews! And I'd also like to thank my beta Crysist for staring at this for hours with me!**

 **Without further ado, enjoy! I will see you for one final author's note at the end. C:**

* * *

 **Epilogue**

 _ab exiguis profecta initiis_

Astrid

I took one step into Town Hall and halted. Stormfly glanced at me and pressed her shoulder against mine.

The biting cold from outside burned at my back, and yet the light and warmth of dragonfire nearly scalded me from the front. People and dragons crammed into just about every corner, the dragons keeping their fires in their mouths as if they were clasping the stars in their teeth. The smell of fresh, warm food made my stomach roar with hunger, and the loud, happy clamor from human and dragon alike would have given me a headache if it weren't so welcomed.

For a moment, I just wanted to take in the view, holding it close. I didn't want it to end.

"Astrid! Hey, Astrid!"

Snotlout yanked himself out of the crowd, stumbled, and then brushed himself off like everything was fine. He ran over to me, Hookfang hot on his heels with a mug jammed between his teeth. Stormfly stepped around me, sniffed it, and narrowed her eye at it. Hookfang tried to give it to her, and when all she did was _look_ at him, he huffed and swallowed it whole.

"You really need to teach him what isn't food," I said, lifting an eyebrow as the Monstrous Nightmare's eyes snapped wide open.

Snotlout shrugged. "Eh, he'll figure it out. Why're you so _late?_ "

Before I could answer, Hookfang turned and spat out the metal bit of the mug, letting it clatter to the floor. Not a moment later, the wounded baby Gronckle emerged from the forest of legs around her and pounced on it. She limped at her top speed away, her playmates chasing her, and then scrambled up the cloak of none other than the Chief.

He flailed his arm for a second, just barely keeping his mead from spilling as Gobber keeled over laughing beside him. Within a few seconds, he wrestled the baby Gronckle into his arm and scolded, "Hey! What is in your mouth? Spit that out!"

She pouted exactly like Stormfly did when I told her to cut something out. With far too much sass than was warranted for a tiny dragon, she simply opened her mouth and let it slide from her teeth. It dropped to the ground, and in an instant, her playmates started fighting over it in a squabbling game of tug-of-war. The crippled Gronckle yowled and began squirming frantically, tiny wings buzzing in a blur.

With a roll of his eyes, the Chief set her down. He looked up and caught my eye.

"Astrid!" he boomed across Town Hall. "Come over here!"

I froze, eyes wide. Snotlout cackled. With a quick punch to his shoulder—which he pretended didn't hurt—we all made our way over to each other. We met halfway in Town Hall, surrounded by celebrating Vikings and dragons alike.

"Where have you been?" the Chief asked. "I'd thought you would have been here with the rest of your friends."

I put a hand on Stormfly. She thrust her nose into my palm and rumbled with a deep purr as I scratched it. "I was just spending some extra time with Stormfly. We wanted to take in the new docks for a little bit longer."

I left out that I'd held my breath with a sinking stone in my gut, staring out into the empty bay and just _waiting_ for something to happen.

The Chief grinned and gave me a firm pat on the back. "Aye, I'd like to do the same myself later tonight. But come, the village is celebrating _now_. You can take in the view all you'd like some other time."

"Yeah!" Gobber said, sauntering over. "And speakin' of which, where's our two local heroes? Playin' hookie again?"

Hookfang perked up and stared expectantly at Gobber, eyeing the meat he had in his hand. Snotlout just barely held him back as he lunged for it.

The Chief groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose. "I can't say I'm surprised." He turned to me. "If you see them, would you mind telling that I've saved them some cod?" With a small smile, he added, "I made sure they were only smoked, nothing else. Except for the glaze that Toothless likes."

I nodded. "I'll go get 'em. Don't want their food to get cold, after all."

The Chief grinned. "Thank you, Astrid."

"And get 'em quick!" Gobber said. "Or _I'll_ eat it before it goes to waste!"

With a task at hand, Stormfly, Snotlout, Hookfang, and I squeezed our way through the crowd. As we did, the twins and Fishlegs caught sight of us—well, they caught sight of Hookfang tripping all over the place and Stormfly teasing him—and joined us with their dragons. We stepped outside, away from the joyful village gathered in Town Hall and into the quiet calm outside. Dragons that had opted out of going inside lounged on just about any surface, many of them fast asleep and some watching us with curiosity.

It was twilight, painting the slow, gentle snowfall around us a mixture of pastel pinks, blues, and purples. A sheer, vivid orange stripe across the horizon was all that was left of the sun. If I squinted, I could just barely see down the cliffs to our new docks, finally finished after weeks of hard work. It would've taken twice as long without the dragons pitching in to help out.

"First one to find them wins!" Tuffnut shouted the second we were outside. He took off down towards Berk, Barf and Belch trotting after him.

"Hey!" Ruffnut complained. She glanced at the rest of us. "Whatever, it's not like I care. We'd win anyways."

"Oh, yeah?" Snotlout said, putting his hands on his hips and leaning towards her. "Sounds like something a loser says so they don't have to get their butt kicked."

Ruffnut leaned right towards him until she was nose-to-nose with him. Her voice dropped low. "Ya wanna try me, Jorgenson?"

Snotlout snorted and crossed his arms over his chest. "Sure! Your loss. I mean, I'm _obviously_ gonna win, so— _hey!_ No head starts!"

He gave chase after Ruffnut, who had turned and gone into a full-kilter sprint after her brother. Hookfang squeaked and scrambled after them, kicking up glimmering golden snow in the fading sunlight.

I rolled my eyes and turned to Fishlegs, whose nose was buried in his sketchbook. "You gonna join them?"

He didn't respond. Meatlug nudged him, and he jumped to attention. "Wait, what?!" He glanced around, confused. "Oh, r-right! I mean, I just don't think it's fair. Seeing as Meatlug and I are the most competent trackers."

Meatlug grunted and lifted her chin high. I stared at them both, and while Meatlug held it, Fishlegs looked away with an awkward grimace.

"Welp, better go find them!" Fishlegs stammered. He eased himself up onto Meatlug, and she crouched and took off, leaving Stormfly and me standing alone in the soft snowfall.

"Whadd'ya say, girl?" I said, patting her. "Think we should wait, just to make things fair?"

Stormfly squawked impatiently and fluttered her wings, nipping at my scarred arm and dragging me closer to her shoulders.

I smiled. "That's what I thought."

We took off together, breaching up above our rebuilt village. Stormfly was careful to go at a flatter angle since she didn't have any rope on her, peeking over her shoulder just to double-check she hadn't thrown me. It was much harder to fly with her without something to hang on, but luckily, she seemed to realize it and made an effort to keep the ride from being bumpy.

Across the village, the others finally get the bright idea to hop on the dragons. Hookfang sprung clumsily into the air, and Barf and Belch took off a ways away from him, holding one of the twins by their "scruff" in his mouth.

They were putting a pretty good effort into it. It was a shame that I already knew where Hiccup and Toothless were. I'd never said that I _didn't_ know where they were, after all.

I leaned to the side and pointed. "C'mon, girl, this way!"

With a happy squawk, she leveled out and put on a burst of speed. We zoomed right over Fishlegs and Meatlug, who were hovering over the center of the village near the smithy. Ruffnut shouted at us for cheating by "going too fast" as we swept over her and her brother.

Our home spread out beneath us. The few buildings that had survived stuck out like a sore thumb, blackened by the many nights of smoke and fire. They were a reminder of the war that had swept over us—and that had taken some of us as well.

Despite the painful reminder, there was hardly any rubble left behind. The new homes and shops of the surviving people of Berk looked fresh and new. We had broken our backs rebuilding as fast as we could, and it had paid off big time; the village barely looked like it had faced the apocalypse just a month ago. Especially considering the way the dragons were lying around, as carefree and calm as cats stretching out in the sun.

We had suffered great losses, but it hadn't broken us. We had moved forward, in more ways than one.

The village suddenly gave way to the forest, the foliage transforming into an emerald ocean. Stormfly dipped and swayed just over the canopy for the fun of it, her tongue lolling from her mouth. It was only a matter of time before she went completely off-course. I patted her and pointed, and she jerked back on track so quickly that I nearly fell off.

"I _really_ need to ask Hiccup about a saddle," I grumbled to Stormfly. "I don't know how he hangs on without one."

Stormfly chirped over her shoulder at me.

We flew to the west. I kept my eyes peeled as we went to meet the moon, hoping it wasn't too dark to see by now.

After several moments, the forest plunged down into the cove. The calm, still lake in the center reflected the twilight sunset. Just beside it, I could make out a black form melting into the dim shadows.

Toothless was lying on his stomach, his wings spread out in the soft grass. Stretched out on his back, facing up towards the skies, was Hiccup. He had one hand resting over his heart and the other stretched out along Toothless' wing, his fingers spread out in the exact positions that the fingers of Toothless' wing were. His leather wing stretched out from his wrist to his ankle, and his head was turned to the side to look at the fake wing resting atop the real. They must have been out flying for a long time, because both of them were completely knocked out, their eyes shut and their breathing slow with deep sleep.

Stormfly plunked to the ground, crying out so loud that I was sure she was being obnoxious on purpose. Toothless leapt to his feet with a yelp, sending Hiccup tumbling to the ground.

" _Ooowwhy_ ," he groaned, splayed out with his face directly in the grass. He lifted himself up into a four-legged crouch and blinked blearily up at me. "Astrid?"

"You're late," I said, offering my hand. Stormfly craned her neck down and nudged his side several times, chirping excitedly.

"Late?" he mumbled drowsily, clasping his hand into mine. I pulled him upright as Toothless shook himself off. "Late for wh—" His face paled. "Oh no."

"Yup." I put my hands on my hips. "Did you really forget?"

Both of them shared the same "uh oh" look.

"Uh…" Hiccup dragged out.

I rolled my eyes and gave him a small, friendly push towards Toothless. "C'mon," I said. "Everyone's missing you two. Your dad even saved you some unseasoned cod, I think—well, he said something about Toothless' having glaze on it."

Toothless tilted his head, eyes big and curious. Hiccup rumbled and clicked his tongue, and Toothless stiffened, ears sticking straight up. He began to urgently shove Hiccup towards him, fluttering his wings and tail flailing. Hiccup laughed and warbled at him, making a big show of sitting back down. With half-lidded eyes, Toothless stooped down and picked Hiccup up by his "scruff". Stormfly squawked excitedly, jumping around them in a circle and flapping her wings.

Hiccup wheezed something in one huge breath, scrabbling at his neckline. Toothless grunted, and he gasped, " _Fine_ , you win!"

With a satisfied snort, Toothless dropped him. Hiccup landed on his feet, whipped around, and swatted at his frills with a playful hiss.

I grinned and added as casually as I could, "By the way, Gobber said he was just gonna eat yours if you didn't get there soon."

Toothless balked. He snapped his paw out, only for Hiccup to spring away with surprising ease. The apparently-starving Night Fury tried to have another go at him, but Stormfly jumped in and pretended to nip at his paw, clearly thinking they were playing a game.

"So…what's he saying?" I asked, sidling up next to Hiccup as Stormfly proceeded to pester Toothless as much as physically possible, leaping in front of him every time he moved and play-biting at his nose. "I'm just _so_ curious."

He shot me a sly look. "Oh, well, you know…there's a lot of _nuance_ to dragon language."

Toothless finally managed to duck around Stormfly, sending her a grunt that undoubtedly meant to leave him alone. She backed off and stood in a playful crouch, hissing and wriggling her rump at him. Shaking his head with exasperation, he turned back to Hiccup and me, lowered his head, and narrowed his eyes.

"Well, feel like giving me a crash course?" I said, meeting Toothless' annoyed glare and grinning.

"Oh, I'd love to!" Hiccup snickered, leaning his shoulder against mine. "All the way down to the little details of verb conjugation and contractions, right?"

"Well, of _course!_ " I said with as much fake cheer as I could muster.

Toothless outright growled at the two of us. He crouched, fanning his wings and whipping his tail. Just off to his side, Stormfly did the same.

"Well," Hiccup drawled. "First off, you gotta learn to— _wah!_ "

He leaped towards me just as Toothless pounced, shoving me out of the way and holding me in place. At the same time, Stormfly barreled past at top speed, rushing the spot that Toothless had been just seconds before.

Both Stormfly and Toothless skidded to a halt facing random directions, whipped around, and groaned at losing their prey. Hiccup and I burst out laughing.

"Alright, I think he knows what it feels like now," Hiccup snickered. He glanced at me, suddenly realized that he still had his arms wrapped around me, and jerked away. Avoiding my eyes, he stammered, "Ah, s-sorry, I, uh…yeah."

Toothless outright _smirked_ and let out a long croon. Hiccup turned a furious shade of pink, mumbled something incomprehensible, and finally darted back to his other half. With a single, smooth leap, he was on Toothless' shoulders. The entire time, Toothless rumbled _something_ at him, only making Hiccup's blush deepen. He let out a squawk and pulled at Toothless' ear, earning a laugh from him.

With a roll of my eyes, I beckoned Stormfly. She charged right on over, wings flapping the entire time, and barely managed to stop next to me. Panting for breath, she dipped her shoulder for me to climb on.

With that, Toothless' patience ran out—and he bolted.

Letting out an indignant cry, Stormfly launched after him, just barely slowing down enough to keep me from flying off. Even then, she struggled to keep up with Toothless, who was apparently _way_ too eager to have his special dinner and was _not_ waiting for us. Which meant that _I_ was having some trouble hanging on.

Hiccup must have noticed, because he said _something_ to Toothless to get him to slow down. We caught up to them in a few moments, and I could have sworn I heard Stormfly give a sigh of relief.

"Hey, don't worry!" I told Toothless. "Gobber _probably_ hasn't eaten your share yet."

Toothless rewarded me with a _very_ flat look. Giving a dignified throw of his head, he set his sights straight forward. He tried to be nonchalant about it, but he definitely picked up the pace.

Within minutes, Berk rose up from the forest below. I couldn't see the others still flying around, which was either good or bad...at least in the twins' case.

As we neared our rebuilt home, Hiccup said in a surprisingly shy tone, "Um, Astrid?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks for helping out."

I shrugged. "I mean, all I did was give you a wake-up call."

"I know," Hiccup said, so softly his voice was almost swallowed in the wind. "You always have."

I couldn't hold back a warm, surprised grin, one that Hiccup easily returned. "I-I, um—you're welcome. It's nothing, really."

"Of course it is," Hiccup said. "You've always been there to knock sense into us."

It was suddenly _really_ hard to meet his eyes. Brushing my hair to hide the small blush rising to my cheeks, I nodded and turned back towards Berk. "Well, I've always _told_ you I wanted to help. Took ya long enough to listen."

Hiccup chuckled. "Yeah, uh...better late than never?"

"I _guess_ ," I fake-groaned.

Toothless crooned. Hiccup scoffed and pawed at him again.

By then, Town Hall was just in front of us. Stormfly and Toothless swooped down to land at its doors. Stormfly made sure to plop down directly in front of Toothless as Hiccup was sliding off of him, cutting them both off with a mischievous look. With a snicker that Toothless _definitely_ noticed and _definitely_ didn't appreciate, I leapt off of her and pushed the doors open. A wave of heat burst out from inside.

Hiccup brushed his shoulder against mine as he passed, shooting me one last meaningful, thankful look. I could have sworn I heard a small purr rise from him. Judging by how he suddenly blushed and skittered away, he noticed it, too.

Toothless, on the other hand, merely nodded at me...and then rushed into the building in desperate search of his food, all but dragging Hiccup after him. He caught sight of the Chief and made a beeline for him, stopping just in front of him and roaring. The surrounding Vikings laughed, and the Chief gave both Hiccup and Toothless a firm pat on the shoulders and led them deeper into the midst.

I turned to close the door. Just as I did, the sun slipped below the horizon, transforming the pastel colors into deeper, fuller shades. I allowed myself one last worried look out towards the docks. Stormfly nipped at my arm and tugged me further in with a whine.

"You're right, girl," I said. I put my hand on her nose and took a deep breath, letting the tension drain from my shoulders.

The doors to Town Hall closed, blocking the cold and snow from seeping in, and we returned to the warmth waiting for us.

 **o.O.o**

Toothless

" _Not that I don't_ enjoy _helping, Hiccup_ ," I drawled. " _But are you perhaps going to finish up_ anytime _soon?_ "

Hiccup hummed, shuffling around his "desk" as he tried to find something in the dim light. A few fires had been set out in the smoke-cave, allowing us ample light to see by night, and yet he _still_ managed to lose everything in a huge clutter of papers.

I'd been holding my leg up for him to study for quite some time, and it was getting fairly sore. I inched it down, hoping Hiccup wouldn't notice.

" _Not yet!_ " he yelped, whipping around and grabbing my extended paw to keep it at his eye level. He grabbed something from his "desk" and took careful measurements of my paw with his… _thing_ …and then drew on his papers. Then he scrounged around through his forest of papers some more, produced the object he'd been fiddling around with, and made some adjustments to it by pulling on it near metal bits.

I would have been interested if we hadn't been working on this _all night._ Hiccup glanced up at me and quirked a brow.

I flicked our link back to life, finally restored to us as Hiccup's magic had been. It was still a joy for it to return, and there was always a slightest twinge of fear that it had disappeared once more. Yet the spark of soul-magic we had discovered bolstered it, making it seem far more real and present than before.

Which was perfect for complaining.

 _I'm so_ _bored!_ I "shouted" at Hiccup.

Amusement blasted through me, only doubling when I pressed back with as much exasperation as I could muster.

 _Oh, it's only been for a few hours!_

Only _a few hours!_

With a roll of his eyes, Hiccup turned back to his work, effectively putting an end to the conversation. That didn't stop me from groaning as over-dramatically as I could.

" _I'm almost done, you fledgling_ ," he snickered with an amused overtone.

The overtone was almost perfect, making him sound almost _exactly_ as he once had as a Shadow-Blender. I couldn't tease _him_ for sounding like a fledgling even if I wanted to.

" _Then hurry up!_ " I groaned. " _My leg is sore._ "

"Yeah, yeah," he said, looping the object around my paw. A small, wooden contraption was attached to the loops of sturdy material, nestled just above my second claw. " _There! Now_ you _tighten it!_ "

I frowned down at it, struggling to make sense of it. Hiccup had an amazing eye for these kinds of things, able to look at an object and intuitively understand _how_ it worked. To me, it just looked like a _thing._ I had to think long and hard about what connected where and _why_ it did.

With slow, careful movements, I leaned down towards a bit of the leather that was hanging down and nipped at it. I peeked up at Hiccup for confirmation, and when he nodded with a huge grin, I pulled at it. The contraption tightened around my paw, but only on the side the leather bit was on. I found another string of it and pulled at that as well, slowly working it until it was tight enough to stay put but not tight enough to constrict too much.

" _Perfect!_ " Hiccup said, bouncing a little on his feet with a proud smile. I couldn't help returning his smile, glad to have "worked" on it as well despite my protests.

" _So are we done?_ " I asked, shaking my paw and showing him that it wasn't falling off this time. " _I did the thing, so…_ "

" _No no no!_ " he rattled off. "We have to test it first!"

I huffed. " _What even_ is _it? Have you forgotten you_ still _haven't told me?_ " I set him with an admonishing look and said with an exasperated overtone, " _Are you going to keep_ all _your projects secret until the last minute?_ "

Hiccup shrugged with a sly grin. " _Maybe._ "

I merely raised a brow at him, staring at him with half-lidded eyes. " _Wow, I can't wait._ "

"That's the spirit!" he chirped. "Now come over here."

He led me to his "desk", scrutinizing the contraption as it shifted around on my paw. It was held firm against it, but not so firm that it would snap if I jostled it too much. When we got there, he cleared a space, found some blank paper, and set it down in the middle.

…what _was_ this thing?

Without being prompted, I lifted a paw, peering at it with intrigue now. Hiccup grabbed a pencil, pushed it into the contraption, and then squeezed it shut. It locked around the pencil, holding it in place. It lied flat against my second claw, the tip sticking out just past it.

"Yeah, keep your claw flexed like that," Hiccup said, taking notice of the way I had positioned it. "You should use it to stabilize the pencil."

"Stabilize?" I repeated.

Hiccup grabbed a pencil himself and drew a circle on the paper. Tapping it, he turned to me with a huge grin and beckoned me to try.

I flicked my eyes down to the pencil and then to the circle, suddenly nervous that it _wasn't_ going to work—and only because I was bad at it.

Trying to keep my paw from jostling around too much, I reached out and gently pressed the tip to the paper. Hiccup, in turn, held the paper down with his paws to keep it from shifting about.

With slow, _slow_ movements, I inched my paw around, keeping my claw extended so that the pencil was held stable. When I was done, I dropped my paw and blinked with surprise.

It was…good? The line was wobbly and uneven, but it was far better than I could ever hope to accomplish just using my mouth to hold the pencil. For starters, it actually _looked_ like a circle rather than a squiggly line that meandered around and met back up with itself.

"It worked!" Hiccup cheered, throwing his paws up. He bonked his head against mine, bouncing with giddy excitement, and rambled, "I mean, I had pretty low hopes for it since I just started making it today, and I was kinda worried it wouldn't do much better than using your mouth, but it actually worked!"

" _Of course it did_ ," I said with a grin. "You _made it._ "

" _Practice! Practice, practice!_ " Hiccup urged me.

For some time, I tested the drawing-object with Hiccup keeping close watch of how it worked. I got fairly skilled at drawing circles, if I do say so for myself, and graduated to drawing more complex objects such as "triangles" and "squares". Those were a lot more difficult—apparently the edges were important—but I still managed. By the time the paper was filled up with my work, there was a clear improvement from the top to the bottom.

Hiccup held up the paper and displayed it to me. "See?" he said. "Soon you'll be drawing Shadow-Blenders, too!"

" _Just like you?_ " I asked, glancing at all the papers he'd strewn about his "desk". He had been drawing our nestmates for quite some time now, working in close quarters with, surprisingly enough, 'Fishlegs'. " _Will I add papers to your 'book'?_ "

" _If you want_ ," he snickered. " _There's still a lot to do. Maybe you can write in it, too!_ " He pointed at a paper he had hung up on the wall of the smoke-cave that had all the "Norse" symbols listed on it. He'd made it specifically for me, but I simply could not make heads or tails of it.

" _Ah, maybe…_ " I said uncertainly, shooting the "Norse" characters an uncertain look. They honestly all looked the same to me, no matter how many times Hiccup tried to explain their differences.

"Maybe just our illustrator, then," Hiccup teased. He reached out to the contraption and hesitated. "Wait, _you_ take it off."

It turned out that taking it off was much harder than putting it back on. It involved tugging at little loops of leather caught between metal—little loops that were fairly difficult to snag between my teeth. After a rather frustrating ten or so minutes, I managed to get the damn thing to fall off.

" _Why do_ I _have to do that?_ " I grumbled to Hiccup. " _You'll always be there to do it._ "

He smiled, grabbing it and folding it up. " _Well, I have to know if I need to adjust it more to make it easier to put on and off._ " He studied the metal parts of it and mused, "I'll have to work on these for sure, since they're too small for you to adjust them." Setting it down on his "desk" and making a lousy attempt at re-organizing the storm of papers lying across it, he went on, "And then we can work some more on the holster for the pencil, since I think we're gonna run into problems with unhinging it. Maybe adding a switch to it instead of just opening it by pushing it apart. And we can also add some padding to it, since I really don't like how the wooden part sits right on your scales."

" _But that doesn't bother me_ ," I said, tipping my head aside.

"Well, I made it out of wood as a prototype, but I'm gonna try and see if I can make it out of metal so it doesn't break after a few months. And metal might chafe if you wear it for a long time," Hiccup said. He bit his lip, glancing down at the contraption, and then offered me a small, nervous smile.

"Or if _I_ wear it for a long time."

I reared my head, eyes wide and ears sticking straight up.

"I-I mean," Hiccup stammered. "There's still so much to do, and this one is for _both_ of us, Toothless—I want _you_ to be able to write and draw too, not just me, and besides, I'd have to make a smaller one anyways, and—"

I lunged for him, pressing my cheek against his and wrapping my wing around him. Hiccup cut himself off and, after a moment, leaned into me with a small purr.

" _No wonder you didn't tell me_ ," I said, pulling away. " _I wouldn't have stopped bothering you to get it done._ "

"Hm, I don't think keeping it secret really changed _that_ much," Hiccup said. I scoffed, cuffing him with my paw, and he squeaked, " _Ow!_ What, that's what I get for this?"

" _So, you want to stay and keep working on it?_ " I asked with a huge grin and a pressing overtone.

Hiccup groaned. "Oh, _now_ you want to stay." He went to the "window" and glanced up at the moon. "It's getting late—do you want to make our rounds and get home before Dad wakes the whole island freaking out that we're gone?"

Oh, right. The King. He'd been a little… _touchy_ about not knowing where we were for extended periods of time. Not that I blamed him, but I certainly _hoped_ he would let up eventually. Still, best not push our luck. It _was_ getting late…and it was far past the bedtime I had been _trying_ to enforce on Hiccup just to make sure he'd get a _little_ bit of sleep.

After helping put out all of the fires and sending one last, longing look to the contraption, I padded out of the smoke-cave into the emptied pathways of Berk. Many of our nestmates were sound asleep on the wood-caves, and almost none of the "windows" had any light seeping out into the chilly night.

Hiccup sprung onto my back. I opened my wings and lifted us up into the sky, far above our home. The moon was already setting, casting pale, wispy light onto the still night.

First we went round the "bell tower", then the center of Berk, then the massive stone-cave the humans had all lived in for some time, and then the outskirts near the forest. I studied the ground below, my eyes piercing into the shadows for any signs of trouble, while Hiccup stared up into the skies in search of unwelcome visitors.

Last was the docks. We swept over the cliffs of Berk, and they opened up below us: the zig-zagging platforms that led down to the water, the long expanses of wood that stretched out to the floating-trees, and the dozens of stone-launchers that lied in wait. The ocean was calm tonight, the waters so gentle that they almost resembled the lake back in the cove.

Hiccup and I saw it at the same time. The two of us had barely let out a gasp before I was diving.

Just on the docks, in stark contrast to the soft, deep blues of the moonlit docks, was a spark of bright orange glimmering like a beacon.

Fire.

I landed a distance away from it, my eyes darting back and forth for the culprit. A leading call rose in my throat—and then died as I took a closer look. My heart leapt up into my throat. It wavered and shone in the dimming light, catching the light with every small movement. A hazy, golden fog seemed to drift about it. But what left me stunned wasn't that it was on our docks.

It wasn't growing. It wasn't eating away at the wooden platform it had appeared on. It was just _there_. Lingering, impossible.

" _Soulfire?_ " Hiccup echoed my own thoughts, a shaken overtone muffling his voice.

We exchanged a worried, confused glance, and I took us into a sprint towards it. I stopped just in front of it, and Hiccup slipped off of my shoulders and crouched on four paws to get a closer look.

What we found only doubled my confusion. A stone settled in my gut.

It wasn't soulfire. It was…it was…

"A _hatchling?!_ " Hiccup yelped.

It was tiny, with brilliant, flame-colored scales that caught the light just so that it _looked_ to be made of living fire. The little thing shifted and lifted its head. It opened its delicate muzzle in a huge yawn, a tiny pink tongue curling up. It peeped and blinked dazed, sleepy eyes up at us.

 _Familiar_ eyes.

There was no recognition in them—merely the simple curiosity of a young hatchling that had yet to learn language. It sniffed at us and then lied his head back down on his tail, curling up and falling back asleep.

Hiccup and I stiffened nonetheless—and for a moment, only the soft breeze and turning of the waves filled the space about us. I leaned forward and took in its scent: male, ocean, and smoke.

" _S-Sphere?_ " Hiccup broke the silence. He bent to four paws and crept forward, pawing at the little hatchling. He whined, cracking his eye open just enough to shoot Hiccup an annoyed look. " _Sphere? Is that you?_ "

The hatchling didn't respond, nor did his eyes light up at the name. With an aggravated huff, he curled up even tighter.

Hiccup turned to me with wide eyes, and without a second thought, I urged our link of soul-magic and mental magic back to life. My own fear shot through it, drawing a small shock from him.

His unbroken, filled shell of magic was still there, still ready, still waiting—and my worry at having that ripped away from us _again_ was assuaged. Now, though, confusion swept between the two of us, along with a sense of unexpected relief.

We had learned with our final meeting with him that he had also been one of the Queen's slaves, but one manipulated through subtle magic rather than brute force. With his past of manipulation and suffering, with his resolution that he was unworthy of redemption, with his final, desperate plea to right his wrongs to us at his own expense…had the gods deemed him worthy of a second chance?

Hiccup grinned. _They gave_ us _one._

We turned back to him, letting the link dissipate until we next called on it.

Hiccup reached out and collected the hatchling in his paws, holding him close to his chest. He let out a long, indignant whine at being disturbed, squirming around as much as he could. It took him a moment to find a more comfortable spot, resting his head against Hiccup's chest as if listening for his heartbeat.

Hiccup purred soothingly, slowly soothing the tiny thing back to sleep. The hatchling fought it off with long, slow blinks and annoyed puffs of air, peering up at my brother with no small amount of confusion.

" _See?_ " he murmured. " _I knew you had good in you._ "

" _What should we do?_ " I murmured, well and truly at a loss.

Hiccup looked up at me, the shock of it still lingering in his eyes. " _We can help him_ ," he murmured. He glanced down at him. " _That's all he ever needed…someone to be there for him._ "

I peered at the half-asleep hatchling and then craned my head to peer into the heavens. The moon was still sinking towards the horizon, and the stars above were as bright and crisp as ever.

I set my jaw and returned my attention to the hatchling. My hard stare softened, and I leaned towards the hatchling and nosed him, almost expecting him to disintegrate into fog at my touch.

He purred, blearily blinking at me and poking his little tongue out to give me a lick on the nose.

" _You've finally found your home, Sphere_ ," I murmured to him.

It was the last time that I would use that name.

With another yawn, the hatchling relaxed in Hiccup's grip. Resting his head against Hiccup's heart, he let out a deep, weary sigh. As the wind swirled around us and the calm ocean lapped gently at the docks, he drifted off with a small, tired smile that seemed far too old and worn for a hatchling his age.

 **o.O.o**

The stars were shining bright and crisp in the moonlit sky when I was roused awake.

It came as a small surprise, quickly followed by guilt. Not for sleeping...but because of _where_ we had fallen asleep.

Hiccup and I had, apparently, dozed off atop the "bell tower" of the large stone-cave. It was the very same one we had escaped to the night the King had commanded Hiccup to return to work. This time, though, we had taken refuge here for more innocent reasons. We had climbed atop to enjoy the sunset after a long day of work and, evidently, had accidentally fallen asleep.

The King was probably a tad annoyed with us for leaving him with the hatchling for so long. In the days since we had found him, we had become his somewhat awkward and uneasy guardians...and by association, so too had the King. Except the King had just as little of a clue as we did on how to take care of a hatchling. He also wasn't as fireproof, which posed another problem.

Hiccup's breath hitched, snapping me back to the present. He waited a long moment and then whispered, " _Did I wake you up?_ "

I lifted my head and swiveled around to face him. He was leaning against my side, the moonlight making his pine eyes glint brilliantly. He was wide awake, although he still looked tired.

" _Why can't you sleep?_ " I asked.

Hiccup sighed. " _It's stupid_ ," he grumbled. I lifted a brow at him and flattened my ears, and he looked away guiltily. " _Sorry. I still have nightmares. About everything. But it's no big deal._ "

He had always been a horrible liar. There was the slightest taste of fear-scent lingering about us. His paws were clenched, and he held them close to his heart as if shielding himself from something. He stared off to the side, trying to hide the solemn frustration that I had heard in his voice from showing in his eyes.

With a comforting croon, I leaned forward and rubbed my cheek against his. Drawing away, I said, " _I think I know something to take your mind off of it._ "

Within minutes, we were soaring.

Our nest dropped below us, becoming little more than a speck on the ocean, the glimmering orange firelight the only sign of humans and dragons below. We ascended high, high up into the clouds, shaking off the freezing dewdrops that condensed onto us as we passed through them. The moon gleamed above, as if the Dragoness of the Moon Herself was calling us to Her, welcoming us into Her endless heavens.

It was cold, but we had each other. We danced about the clouds, playing yearling games with them by trying to fly between their great, rising towers. I occasionally took sudden, rapid dives and sharp turns, just to keep Hiccup waiting for something. He never fell off of me once, and soon he was laughing.

" _Are you trying to knock me off?_ " he wheezed. " _Is that the best you can do?_ "

" _Oh, you want my best?_ " I asked. " _Alright, here you go!_ "

I rose high above the cloud cover, spread my wings…and flipped over.

Hiccup clamped on tight with a surprised squeak. I tilted my head, straining my wings to keep us flat and upside-down, and shot him a wild grin.

" _Oh, no._ "

Up and down blended together as I took us into a rapid spin. Hiccup cried out in a mixture of surprise, exasperation, and laughter—and I spiraled even faster. His claws tightened considerably on me, now digging in tight just for purchase.

Flaring my wings, I took us into a dead stop, making my insides churn. Hiccup _almost_ slid off of me, just barely clinging on and panting for breath.

Dragoness of the Moon, that actually _was_ my best. I pretended it wasn't, asking, " _Need any more?_ "

Hiccup beamed at me, his eyes shimmering in the starlight. " _Do_ you?" he quipped. He gathered his paws beneath him, crouched, and threw himself right off of me.

I chased him as he flung his wings open and dove into the clouds. Visibility was almost nothing, and he disappeared within moments. I strained my ears for the slightest sound, but the wind was too loud this high up. " _Hiccup?_ " I called, just the slightest bit uneasy.

No response.

" _Hiccup!_ "

Hiccup cried out playful leading calls into the darkness, almost like he was trying to relocate missing nestmates. I honed in on his voice and veered towards him. A large cloud came upon me, and when I burst through it, he was just there in front of me.

" _That wasn't funny!_ " I said, leveling out below him.

Hiccup shot me a wide grin, tipped his wing aside, and dipped below like _he_ would be the one to catch _me._ I raised a brow and did the same, returning underneath him so he could grab on...and with a laugh, he yanked his wing aside and swooped beneath me _again._

It quickly became a game. My competitive side might have gotten the better of me; I quite easily won by spinning over and under him in as quickly as I could. Of course, that made Hiccup escalate it even further. He steered this way and that, flying in unpredictable dips and turns to keep me from staying too close to him. The clouds spotting the skies made it all the trickier, giving him ample cover to dart into and hide in seemingly for the explicit purpose of making my heart leap into my throat.

I burst through a cloud I'd barely seen Hiccup fly through. As I did, he flared his wings and slowed himself down just long enough to bop me on the head and cry, " _Tag!_ "

With that, he closed his wings completely into a rapid stoop.

I narrowed my eyes. The poor thing never learned, did he?

I _always_ won.

Now we chased each other through the skies, doing everything we could to catch the other. Hiccup did a damn good job at using the clouds, high winds, and his small form to his advantage, flying about as stealthily as he could. He made good use of hiding within the clouds and making me _think_ he was below me, only to dive from above and tag me. I, on the other hand, had speed and maneuverability on my side. Once he was within my sights, he had to put up one hell of a fight up to get _out_ of them.

Our first descent must have lasted less than an hour. It felt like we spent the whole night flying about with carefree abandon, laughing and shouting, the whole sky opening just for us. Eventually, we dove below the lowest layer of clouds, revealing Berk to be well within sight—alarmingly so. I swept beneath my brother in the middle of another spin, and he reached out and grabbed hold of one of my spines.

I leveled out just long enough for him to grab on and catch his breath—and then took us in a straight climb as fast as I could. Back up through the clouds, back towards the stars, we rose higher and higher until the cold became intense and the air was thin, and even then, we pushed and pushed until it seemed the whole earth stretched out below.

Auroras burst across the skies at that very moment, the souls of dragons swirling with joyous freedom. We traced their paths, struggling to keep up with them as they spread their great wings from horizon to horizon. They, too, seemed to enjoy the simple joy of an innocent chase.

We flew like that for hours, playing dangerous games of extreme-hide-and-seek tag with the clouds and spirits in an endless cycle of falling and ascending back up again. It was only when the moon began to sink deep towards the ocean that we began to tire out. The last time we broke through the lowest swath of clouds, I let us descend rather than power our way back up to the stars. Even through the many cloud layers, the Dragoness of the Moon kept our path well-lit.

I took us down into a gentle landing just outside our wood-cave with the King, out on its lonely hill, the "shed" that had caused us so many traumas in the past still just within sight. Both Hiccup and I were so breathless and exhausted that it was all we could do to stumble in and make our way to the smoldering fire within.

The King was dead asleep on a resting platform, having stayed up waiting for us. Curled up tight against him was the little flame-scaled hatchling.

With a tired purr, Hiccup settled down at the King's other side, just in front of the fire. I made myself comfortable next to him. He nestled beneath my wing, and I wrapped my tail around all of them—King and hatchling included—and rested my head on my paws.

I waited for Hiccup to fall asleep first. For several peaceful minutes, I kept close watch of him, making sure that the shadow-borne nightmares that still plagued him—that would _always_ plague him, as much as I loathed it—had retreated for the night.

Only then, when I was sure all was well, did I let my eyes slide closed.

 **o.O.o**

Hiccup

I came to on my own, slowly climbing back towards consciousness. Awareness came and went like the turning of the tides, rising and falling endlessly. I distantly heard and felt Toothless breathing on my side, felt his comforting warmth, heard my father tiptoeing around as quietly as he could.

Even weeks later, it was still surprising to me _not_ to wake with a start, _not_ to open my eyes and instantly be crushed by the stress of my life around me. Feeling well-rested had become a rarity to me, but was now one I enjoyed more and more often. So when I finally blinked my eyes awake and saw bright rays of sun falling into our house, I was a little surprised—but only a little.

I turned to Toothless and grinned at seeing him completely knocked out. Well, _that_ explained why I hadn't gotten a rude wakeup call at sunup.

Wriggling my way out from under his wing, I stumbled to my feet and glanced around. Last I remembered, we had settled down in front of the fireplace next to Dad and the hatchling. They weren't in the main room, though. With a yawn, I made my way through the doorway towards our kitchen. Upon finding it empty, I went to the front door and poked my head out.

There was a fresh trail of footprints in the snow: large, human feet, and the tiny pitter-patter of a hatchling. I hesitated, peeking back in towards Toothless.

That he hadn't woken up yet showed just how tired he was. I knew he would stay awake at night to make sure I was okay—so how much sleep he had _actually_ gotten was anyone's guess.

I left the door open so that he knew I'd left and stepped out into crisp, bright morning. The tracks wound up around the side of our house, skirting alongside the forest. The snow went up to my ankles in some places, making the walk much harder than it needed to be. My metal leg slipped all over the place, but by some miracle, I never actually fell flat on my back.

By the time I had tromped my way all the way to the end of the tracks, shivering with cold, I was _really_ regretting leaving without Toothless.

Dad was sitting on the cliff that overlooked Berk with his breakfast, the tiny hatchling toddling around him with huge, inquisitive eyes. He still wasn't past his "squawking" stage, only able to squeak a few words off the top of his head.

He caught sight of me, brightened, and whined, " _Food!_ " With wildly-flapping wings and a flailing tail, he stumbled to me, tripping over just about every obstacle physically possible and sinking into a patch of deep snow right next to me for good measure. The snow caved in around him, and I just barely heard a muffled, frightened peep.

Dad had shifted to watch the little thing stumble around, and now he was struggling to hold in his laughter. "Ah, sorry. I think he's hungry," he called. "The little runt won't stop following me around and begging for my food."

I bent over, grabbed him out of the snowbank, and held him close to my heart. " _It is fine_ ," I purred soothingly. He shook the snow off and warbled something that sounded kind-of like it back at me. " _Yes, yes, there you go!_ " I encouraged him.

As we "spoke" to each other, I took us over to Dad. Keeping careful not to slide straight off the cliff, I eased down next to him, keeping our shoulders touching. "Sorry for disappearing last night," I said. "We didn't mean to stay out so long."

"You've earned your rest," Dad said, busying himself with tearing some of his bread into smaller and smaller pieces. "If that's what it takes for you to actually give yourself some sleep, then I'll take it."

The hatchling wriggled around, squeaking complaints. I set him down in my lap and he immediately forgot that he wanted to be let go, sniffing at the snow curiously. I pawed at it, smiling at the intense interest he watched it shift around.

"Yeah," I eventually sighed. "I guess I always needed some convincing to take care of myself."

Dad chuckled. "You're just like your mother was. Always worrying about everyone else, so much so that she oftentimes forgot to tend to her own needs. During the wintertimes, I'd find her slumped over some half-cooked meal or an unfinished shirt...anything she could think to help." He frowned, drawing harsh lines across his face. "She'd be proud of you."

I paused, staring up at him. Dad looked into my eyes, his own hopeful despite the worry lines that drew across his forehead. He put his hand on my shoulder opposite to him, drawing me into a somewhat awkward hug.

" _I'm_ proud of you, Hiccup."

I tensed for just a second—batted away the spike of adrenaline and the flash of frustration at myself—and then allowed myself to relax. A shy smile grew on my lips. "Thanks, Dad," I said earnestly. Pressing close to him, I said, "I couldn't do it alone. I couldn't have done it without you, too."

The flame-scaled hatchling rolled over in my lap with all four legs sticking straight up. Dad squeezed my shoulder.

We let a comfortable silence settle around us, watching our home as dragons and Vikings went about their days. The docks were bustling today; another voyage to the the Bog Burglars was ready to set out any day now. From here, several dragons fluttered about with people on their backs. Even now, I could make out Astrid, Stormfly, Snotlout, Hookfang, and even Fishlegs and Meatlug trying to teach a small group how to fly together...and judging by how Stormfly occasionally took a wild dive, it wasn't going _super_ well. Toothless and I usually helped out, but it was nice to take a break and actually sleep for once.

I couldn't hide a soft, contented purr—and more than that, I didn't _want_ to. Dad, for his part, only glanced down with a knowing smile and held me closer.

It was hard not to become uneasy, holding my breath for something horrible to happen. Wild scenarios played over and over in my head, each one worse than the last. It took more effort than I would have liked, but I managed to keep myself from spiraling down _that_ dark path, focusing on the present, on what was real, on what really mattered.

That is, until something prodded me right in my back.

" _Gah!_ " I yelped. I clutched the hatchling close and twisted around, my heart thundering in my chest.

" _You got up without me? And actually went_ outside?" Toothless grumbled. " _I'd consider it a miracle, if only you had woken_ me _up as well!_ "

" _Sorry_ ," I laughed, holding a hand to my racing heart and letting go of the hatchling. "You seemed tired."

" _Food!_ " the hatchling begged, scurrying to his feet and prancing between Toothless' paws. With a huff, he squinted and horked up some half-eaten fish from last night. The hatchling squealed with delight and pounced on it, turning his breakfast into a toy and batting it through the snow.

Both Dad and I made disgusted noises. Food offerings, I both appreciated and wanted—but regurgitated, half-digested food still wasn't too high on my "I want to eat that" list. Toothless made sure to shoot us both an over-exaggerated "get over it" look before nestling down next to me. He leaned over and plucked the hatchling out of the snow, settling him down between his paws. The hatchling held onto his food with all four paws the entire time, squeaking in protest.

"I have no clue what we're going to do with him," Dad chuckled. "We'd spend all the time meant for speaking with Bertha chasing him around."

"Aw, he wouldn't cause too much…" I began, only to trail off when the hatchling wrinkled his nose, sneezed, and blasted Toothless right in the face with a plume of fire that was _way_ too big for a dragon so young. "...yeah, he should stay here."

Toothless licked a paw and rubbed his face with a somewhat irritated look. " _Maybe Noodles can watch him?_ "

I pictured the poor Little-Biter trying to wrangle such a rambunctious, accident-prone hatchling. He was already only slightly smaller than Noodles was. "That's a...good Plan B."

"What about Astrid and Stormfly?" Dad suggested.

" _Poor Astrid!_ " Toothless laughed. " _She would be furious with us by the time we came back home. If she wasn't completely exhausted, that is._ "

We puzzled over it for some time, watching the morning sun rise over our bustling village. The hatchling's former identity had only been entrusted with a few dragons in our nest—namely, the elders and those in our flare. Because of that, it wouldn't be too much of a problem finding someone to look after him. I still felt guilty leaving him alone for the first time. He wouldn't know where we'd gone or why we'd left...and he was also _far_ too curious for his own good, and he could barely even walk in a straight line yet.

Eventually, the general conclusion was "we'll figure it out when the time comes". We still had a few days before we departed, and we were already up to our necks with preparations that needed to be done.

With the problem "solved", we fell into another easy silence, only punctuated by the bustle of Berk and the chirping of the hatchling. Dad tried to offer me half his meal, didn't accept my refusal, and then shoved nearly the entire portion at me. I picked away at the bread, still not quite accustomed to the taste. It didn't upset my stomach anymore, though.

Dad was the first to break the calm, speaking in a quiet, nervous voice that immediately made my stomach drop. "...Hiccup?"

I exchanged a wide-eyed look with Toothless, met Dad's turmoiled eyes, and stammered, "Uh, y-yeah?"

Dad looked down at his hands, wringing them together. "This is something I've been meaning to speak to you about, especially with how hard you've been working on your book with Fishlegs and your inventions." He paused to work up his nerve. "I know you…you've told me that...you've regained your magic. From when you were a dragon."

I nodded slowly. Dad took a deep breath and forced his eyes back to mine.

"Does that mean you...you can return to your dragon form?"

The bright light of magic at my forehead, no longer an empty shell, became almost impossible not to focus on. Somehow, I knew that it was no different from Sphere. It was just like the ball of soulfire that had blossomed into his "new" body during the fight against the world's ending. Or, more than that, it was like the old King's egg-shaped nest. Once broken open into the real world, everything would be changed forever and there would be no going back. It was flexible enough to breathe life back into Toothless' and my link, and maybe strengthen my limbs or protect my skin against an unexpected flurry of embers back in the smithy. But the brunt of it remained undisturbed, patiently waiting, held within a shell that protected it until the proper time had come.

I hadn't broken the news to Dad yet. _Nobody_ but Toothless knew, for that matter. Every time I tried to work myself up to it, scolding myself for holding back and hiding like I used to, it would feel...wrong. What, was I supposed to just casually say, "Hey, Dad, there was _one_ teensy thing about my magic I forgot to mention" during dinnertime or patrol?

I guess I had been waiting for the best, most perfect, most never-going-to-actually-happen time to bring it up...only problem was, Dad was never one to wait around for anything.

My heart pounded in my chest. "I can," I said, my voice soft, as if saying it quieter could dampen the blow of it and all of its implications.

Despite it all, Dad smiled.

A moment passed, and even the hatchling quieted under the gravity of the conversation.

"I figured as much," he finally said. "Hiccup...I don't want you to feel forced to…to stay like this for my sake. I just want you to be happy."

Toothless' breath caught. I sat up straighter, my heart picking up twice as fast.

"So, if—if that is what you want…if _I'm_ the one holding you back again—"

"Dad," I interrupted him. I scooted closer to him, pressing my side against his. Taking in a breath, I said with a soft smile, "I know that someday...I will go back. And it means _so much_ to me that you're okay with that." I curled up closer to him, hoping the gesture was reassuring. "But I don't...I don't want you to think I'm staying like this because I feel obliged to." I swallowed, trying to fight down the way my voice shook. "I _choose_ to be this...to be just _me_. I…"

I glanced at my brother, at the little hatchling, out at our village and its docks...and then back to Dad.

"I _am_ happy."

My father's eyes welled up. He quickly looked away to hide it, looped his arm around Toothless and me, and held us close. The hatchling purred, stepping back into my lap and curling up in it. "That's all I need to hear, son," he said, his voice hitching just the slightest bit.

" _And I am happy then, too_ ," Toothless whispered. His eyes still had a small, anxious glint to them.

" _I am_ ," I said, almost breathless myself at the truth that rang in those words, a welcome and hidden part of me that I had known, in some ways, but had not yet recognized. The realization lifted my heart and filled me with the very same warmth he had always gifted me, and my voice rang with an earnest promise.

After everything...after all this time...after spending so long convinced that everything was hopeless, that I would always be this empty shell of the past, always faking and lying and helpless against the ravenous shadows, never able to do anything but drownin it all…

...I was still here. I had worked the broken pieces of me back together into something whole—something that would always be scarred, but had _fought_ to heal and had never since stopped. And I almost gave a choked laugh with the realization that it had all been because of the stubborn resilience of my brother, on that fateful day when he had first spoken to me and made absolutely sure that I _listened_ and that I understood, when he had told me, " _It is fine._ "

Our link flowed between us, filled with love and hope.

 _With you, always._

* * *

 **And with that, my dear friends,** _ **Echoed Songs**_ **draws to a close.**

 **The most common question I have been asked is: "Will you write a third story in this AU?" And my answer to that is...well, I have no clue. I was** _ **convinced**_ **when I posted the end of IHHS that I wouldn't even do an epilogue, and here we are! So I guess it really depends. I will continue to write post-ES oneshots in Unheard Whispers, at the very least. As for a full-blown fic...I've got plenty of ideas, but I want to wait and see what How to Train Your Dragon 3 brings to the table, too.**

 **Also, just since many of you don't know: I have a tumblr that I post drawings and, recently, animations linked on my bio page. If you have any questions or want to chat, contact me there!**

 **One final time, I'd like to thank my beta Crysist for always being there for me, whether to help out with writing or with life. You the real MVP.**

 **And to you, my readers, I want to give you my deepest gratitude for all of your love and support. This goes for everyone, whether they reviewed/favorited/followed or not. It means everything to an author to know that their work matters and has an impact on their audience. That was always my main goal in writing** _ **Echoed Songs**_ **. It was based heavily on my own experiences and struggles, and that is one reason that it took the dark path it did and concluded in this way.**

 **Never give up hope, even in the darkest of times. There is always a reason to move forward.**

 **And with that, I'll just awkwardly hop off of my soapbox. One final time, I want to thank you all for everything. I'm so grateful to have been able to go on this adventure with all of you again.**

 **Have an amazing day, you amazing people!**

 **Sincerely,**

 **Rift-Raft**


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